A Crawley-based company that supplies medical equipment to hospitals and clinics throughout the world has raised over £11,000 in aid of a local charity.

Varian Medical Systems is a worldwide manufacturer of integrated cancer care systems.  The company – which employs over 200 people at its Crawley manufacturing, engineering, sales and service centre – chose St Catherine’s Hospice as its charity of the year in September 2008.  In the 12 months since then, the staff at Varian have supported the hospice through a variety of activities, including:

• blue bag donations to St Catherine’s charity shops, which raised nearly £1,000
• participation in the Flora London Marathon by Varian employee, Michelle Cook, whose sponsorship totalled over £1,800
• a summer ball which raised over £1,000
• a Christmas raffle which collected over £700
• a bike ride which raised over £500

St Catherine’s provides specialised end of life care and support for local patients and their families, friends and carers in Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and East Surrey. 

Matthew Cornish, Corporate Fundraiser at St Catherine’s, said: “We were delighted when Varian chose us as their charity of the year.  The ongoing commitment and enthusiasm of their staff has been really impressive, and greatly appreciated by everyone at St Catherine’s. We hope their example may encourage other businesses to support us in this way.”

Rosemary Myles, Charities Team Leader at Varian, said: “When you are asking people within your company to support a charity throughout the year, it is hard to go back to them again and again asking for support for different fundraising initiatives, but at Varian we do, and the great thing is that there always seem to be enough people willing to give their time and money.   

“St Catherine’s was nominated as our charity of the year by one of our employees and it has certainly proved to be a popular choice. So many people know of someone who has benefited from the wonderful care provided by the hospice, and I am sure that provided the motivation needed to enable us not only to achieve our fundraising target of £10,000, but to exceed it!”

For further information about the many ways in which businesses can support
St Catherine’s, please call 01293 447365, email matthewcornish@stch.org or visit www.stch.org.uk