Generous Michael Hughes, from Oldham, put his skills as a groundworker for Electricity North West to good use, handmaking hundreds of wooden snowmen and reindeer.
The Christmas gifts were created to raise much-needed funds for Oldham-based Doctor Kershaw’s Hospice, and this week, Michael donated £650 to the charity which provides a range of services for those with life-limiting illness.
By day, Michael cuts back trees at some of the power network operator’s 30,000 substation sites throughout the region, keeping them neat and tidy.
And over the recent months, his evenings involved him working away in his shed sawing, planing and shaping the leftover wood into magical Christmas ornaments.
“I’m absolutely over the moon to be able to make the donation to Doctor Kershaw’s in Oldham,” he said.
“Charities such as Doctor Kershaw’s rely so much on donations, without them, they’d really struggle to provide the services they do.
“Doctor Kershaw’s is a hospice close to my heart. I was amazed by the response from colleagues, orders flooded in from all areas of the Electricity North West business and I can’t thank people enough for purchasing the gifts.”
To help manage the orders, Michael was ably assisted by colleagues Angie Thornton and Talony Williams along with his partner, Sarah Rayner. As well as raising funds through sales, Electricity North West’s fundraising team also donated £250 after Michael applied for a colleague-led contribution.
Servicing a population of 220,000, the hospice is partially funded by the Oldham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), however, the major part of the annual £3.4m budget is supported by fundraising activities, donations, legacies, income from the hospice shops and revenue from the hospice lottery.
Lillie Winterbottom, community fundraiser at Doctor Kershaw’s, said: “When we saw Michael’s fantastic creations we were snow-balled over! And to find out that the Hospice was benefiting from Michael’s creativity was the icing on our Christmas cake.
“Our thanks go to Michael and the team at Electricity North West for your cracking Christmas donation, we’re looking forward to your crafty Christmas creations in 2020.”
