Bradford Garden Centre raises over £6,700 for its Charity of the Year through sponsored walk

A team at a Bradford Garden Centre walked the equivalent of Tong to Paris to raise funds for its Charity of the Year.

13 team members from Tong Garden Centre came together during Mental Health Awareness Week with family and friends to do a sponsored walk to raise funds for Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice in Huddersfield.

The Charity of the Year fundraising is managed by a committee led by the People and Culture team at the Tong Lane site. Tong’s People, Culture and Sustainability Business Partner, Steph Bates said: “We have set ourselves the challenge to raise £10,000 this year for the hospice and have a range of events planned from raffles, walks and silent auctions. We were inspired to raise money for Forget Me Not by one of our team members, Michael Bowers after the hospice gave Michael and his family a chance to make memories with their beautiful son, Teddy.

“Our fundraising target for the sponsored walk was £5,000, so we’re over the moon that we exceeded our target by over a third to an outstanding £6,743. The theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week was Loneliness and we encouraged team members to share the occasion of the walk with friends, family and colleagues.

“This is our flagship fundraiser for the year, so we reached out to suppliers for support and were humbled by their generosity. From generous financial donations to fruit for the walk from First Choice and a welcome Cook meal and Wold Top beer for all the walkers, we are so grateful for the part that they played in this fundraiser.”

Michael Bowers was one of the walkers, as was Tong’s MD, Mark Farnsworth with daughter, Jessica: “It was great to spend the day with team members from all departments and their friends and family, and even better to have raised so much for the hospice that gave Michael such comfort.”

More fundraising events are planned throughout the year including a Father’s Day hamper raffle and fundraising fitness classes. To contribute to Tong’s fundraising, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/tgc2022

Tong Garden Centre occupies a 19-acre site in Tong village. It is one of Yorkshire’s biggest independent garden centres with 125,000 square feet of retail space and parking for up to 700 cars. It will open its second garden centre at Tingley, South Leeds in autumn 2022 and has applied to Leeds City Council for planning permission for a third site at Thorp Arch, Wetherby.