Black Cat workers raise £4,000 for Kirkwood

BLACK Cat Fireworks have been loyal friends to Kirkwood Hospice for a number of years.

Last year was no exception when the firework manufacturing company pulled out all the stops to raise funds for their chosen charity of the year: their efforts totalling an impressive £4,000 to date.

The Crosland Hill company kickstarted their fundraising efforts early in 2017 with their own bespoke running event to keep heart rates up and energy going amongst their workforce.

A 78-mile Triple Marathon Challenge saw 17 Black Cat employees take turns on the day to run, walk, skip or jump their way around a selected half-mile course on the company’s premises, regularly keeping track of their laps and raising sponsorship throughout.

To ensure the distance was covered throughout the day, all entrants personally logged their individual laps, bringing in £1,000 in well-earned sponsorship money.

Taking place in the company’s factory shop on site at their Crosland Hill premises, various promotional sales of sparklers also boosted funds throughout the year with 100% of proceeds donated straight back to patient care at the Dalton-based Kirkwood Hospice.

The sales in the lead-up to Bonfire Night and the Christmas period were professionally promoted through posters and social media posts, and volunteers of Kirkwood Hospice even came to offer their The Black Cat Team (left to right) Alan Hindle, finance manager, Judy Charlton, health and safety manager, Kate Gibson-Drury, HR manager, Austin Brown, general manager, and Gary Wilkinson, marketing officer, present the cheque for £4,000 to Kirkwood Hospice’s Kate Leadbeater (centre) time in support of the event.

Ending their year of fundraising in a truly ‘explosive’ way, the team at Black Cat also took on one of Kirkwood’s very own ‘Chocolate Explosions’ to raffle to friends and family as part of the Hospice’s Christmas Campaign.

Reflecting on a hugely successful and motivating year of Fundraising, Austin Brown, general manager at Black Cat Fireworks, said: “Having had a couple of years away from Kirkwood Hospice, for me, it’s a pleasure to come back and get the partnership going once again.

“We’ve had two members of our own staff come through Kirkwood so it’s a very personal cause to both myself, and to the business.

“We are honoured to support the good work that is done for the greater community, and see the value and support that it gives to not only patients, but also families and friends in need. It’s great to be involved, even in a small way, with the fantastic work that is done at Kirkwood Hospice.”

Kate Leadbeater, the Kirkwood Hospice business partnership development manager, has been fundraising at Kirkwood for over a decade and has built a strong relationship with the team at Black Cat over the years.

She said: “It’s been amazing to work with Black Cat again and we are so grateful for the phenomenal work done this year. It’s been lovely to see some of our volunteers getting involved to not only help with sales of the sparklers, but also to raise awareness and the profile of Kirkwood Hospice.”