Our Hospice 2000 Appeal is £5,000 the richer - thanks to a big gift from a local company and a little help from the taxman.

CASH BOOST: Karen Russell receives a cheque for £3,850 for the hospice appeal from Mark Sessions. With the taxman's help the cheque will be worth £5,000.

Mark Sessions, chairman and managing director of printers and labelling specialists Sessions of York, handed over a cheque for £3,850 to Karen Russell, finance and fundraising manager at St Leonard's Hospice.

But because the donation was made under the Inland Revenue's Gift Aid Scheme a further £1,150 will be claimed back, making a total of £5,000 towards the St Leonard's target of raising £2 million by the end of 2000.

Mark Sessions said: "Our company has supported the hospice regularly since its foundation and we wanted to give an extra special donation this year to support the Millennium Appeal because we felt it is such a worthy cause."

Karen Russell said it was wonderful gift from Sessions, adding: "They have a long association with St Leonard's and have supported us for many years, with donations and the printing of annual reviews.

"Under the Inland Revenue's Gift Aid Scheme it is worth £5,000 to the appeal and we should like to take this opportunity of not only thanking Sessions but also pointing out that any single gift by an individual or a company worth more than £250 can be increased by a substantial amount under this scheme."

Anyone who would like more information about making a donation with Gift Aid can contact Karen at the hospice on 01904-708553.

Meanwhile teams of York professionals - accountants, solicitors, bank staff, estate agents and architects - will do battle tomorrow in a sporting event which will benefit the hospice.

They will gather at the Megabowl on Clifton Moor to compete for the Hunter Gee and Holroyd Professionals Cup Competition, with the Millennium Appeal getting the proceeds of the event and a raffle.

Knockout fundraising ideas from hotel staff

Staff at a York hotel are cooking up novel ideas to raise cash for our Hospice 2000 Appeal.

The Swallow Hotel in Tadcaster Road has joined a number of other local companies in adopting St Leonard's Hospice Millennium Appeal as its charity.

Fundraising plans include a fancy dress day and a raffle, a housekeepers' trolley dash around the car park, a grand "It's A Knockout" in the spring, and a gala dinner some time next year.

General manager Chris Wilson also plans to run a couple of half marathons to help the cause.

He said: "We really want to get behind this appeal and staff from every department have come up with ideas - some of which we can actually use!

"Everyone is so keen to support the hospice as so many of us have had friends or family members with cancer. With the Hospice Movement being world-wide we know too that our guests will be familiar with its aims and sympathetic to its cause."

The Swallow Hotel joins CPP Card Protection Plan, First York Bus Company, Monks Cross Shopping Park and Terry's Suchard in officially adopting the hospice as their charity for the year.

St Leonard's finance and fundraising manager Karen Russell said: "The hotel is a neighbour of the hospice in Tadcaster Road so we are particularly pleased they are adopting us as their charity.

"The events and schemes they are planning sound good fun and we hope local people will join in and that everyone will have a good time as well as helping raise the crucial funds we need.

The aim of the Millennium Appeal is to raise £2 million by the end of 2000 to redevelop the hospice and expand its services.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.