Anonymous donor gives £500,000 to New Holehird

8:47am Friday 13th February 2004

AN ANONYMOUS half a million pounds donation has provided a massive boost to the team behind bold plans to raise £2.8 million to keep open a much-loved home for disabled people, reports Michaela Robinson-Tate.

The New Holehird team has praised the "extraordinary generosity" of the local donor, who sent a cheque for £500,000 earlier this week after making a confidential approach.

Members of the steering group said that the enormous donation, and many other gifts, had left them "overwhelmed with emotion", and had given them "the best possible start".

Steering group members do not know who the donor is, although it is understood that the person is not young, and had some kind of connection with Holehird a long time ago. Chairman Malcolm Thorogood said although there was a lot of speculation about the donor, he had deliberately chosen not to know their identity because he wanted to respect their wish for anonymity. He said that the gift was indicative of the way in which the community and Holehird had worked together over the years.

Mr Thorogood said: "We knew that to raise £2.8 million would be a struggle but we felt that with a fair wind it was achievable. Then we went public with our campaign and suddenly the mountain seemed so much harder to climb.

"Then, as if by a miracle, one person has come forward and boosted us into the sky like a Saturn 5 rocket taking off. It's truly amazing."

Fellow steering group member Andy Hill said: "To get something in the bank like that is just amazing."

New Holehird launched its appeal last month after national charity Leonard Cheshire, which has run the Windermere home for more than four decades, announced that it could no longer afford to keep open both Holehird and its Oaklands home in Garstang, Lancashire.

It is instead proposing a new home for 20 residents in the Lancaster or Morecambe Bay area.

However, the 24 Holehird residents have said they want to see New Holehird succeed, and have made a public plea for the team to be given a year to see what they can achieve.

The members of the New Holehird Steering Group, who are working towards applying for charitable status, want to take over the running of the home and give the residents the choice of where to live. Since launching their bid, the mood at Holehird is said to have lifted, and the donations have brought a new optimism.

Mr Thorogood said all donations were valued: "Equally important, money is arriving every day from people near and far, and it is a tribute to the compassion of the community that so many people have made donations in the first three weeks."

New Holehird is continuing to talk to Leonard Cheshire, which leases the building from the Holehird Trust, about a potential handover of the house. Cumbria County Council, which manages the trust, has previously said that should New Holehird be successful in keeping the home open, the trust would be likely to let the building to the group.

- Donations can be sent c/o Malcolm Thorogood, The Wyke, Grasmere, LA22 9PY. Cheques should be made payable to New Holehird.