Pub's toilet donation scheme raises hundreds for hospice

Drinkers at a pub have been helping one of the biggest charities in the borough by quite literally spending a penny for a good cause.
Ellesmere Inn landlord Andy SharrockEllesmere Inn landlord Andy Sharrock
Ellesmere Inn landlord Andy Sharrock

The Ellesmere Inn at Hindley has raised more than £900 for Wigan and Leigh Hospice (WLH) by asking visitors to make a donation each time they visit the facilities.

Landlord Andy Sharrock started the unusual charity fund-raiser after a couple of customers came up with the idea and put posters up in the gents and ladies asking regulars to give some money to the hospice each time they visited.

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Drinkers at the Lancaster Road pub ensured their intentions to help the Hindley-based hospice were not flushed away, coming up with an impressive total of £902.16 in six months.

Andy, 54, said: “One of my customers, Mark Boardman, suggested it and another customer, Barry Halliwell, takes the donations up to the hospice.

“Mark just came up with it one night and I thought it was a brilliant idea. We used to have one collecting tin on the bar but now that donations are coming in from the ladies and gents as well we’re getting a lot more.

“We used to send donations up to the hospice every two to three months when the tin was full but now it’s more like every two to three weeks.

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“We’ll definitely be continuing to do it and I think it would be great if other pubs did the same.”

Donations of spare change were left in small boxes on the windowsills in the toilets, with all the proceeds going to WLH to help provide state-of-the-art palliative care to Wiganers in their own homes and at its Kildare Street headquarters.

WLH community fund-raiser Christine Edwardson said: “Andy has come up with a unique wayof fund-raising and it’s certainly proving very effective. It’s surprise how those coppers and coins can quickly mount up.

“We’re very grateful to Andy and those pub-goers whob are paying a penny - or even more - every time they spend a penny.”

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The Ellesmere Inn is a regular supporter of the hospice and boosted its fund-raising efforts for this year further by hosting a fun day on Bank Holiday Monday.

Activities included a bouncy castle, games and stalls and refreshments, while cue experts battled it out for honours in an elimination pool tournament.

For more information about the charity and how to get involved with fund-raising, visit www.wlh.org.uk

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