A family-owned car dealership has pledged its support to South Cumbria’s St Mary’s Hospice – by offering to supply vehicles at cost price.
When the need arose for a new car to ensure the Hospice at Home team could deliver their vital services, Matt Johnson Prestige stepped in.
And managing director of the Barrow firm Matt has pledged to help whenever a future need arises.
He said: “St Mary’s Hospice is such a special place. The amazing team provides a vital service to our communities with compassion and a relentless commitment to the highest levels of care.
“When I heard they were in need of a new car to ensure they could carry out their important work, I immediately wanted to support them in any way I could.”
Matt managed to source a Skoda Kamiq through his industry contacts which was just months old and had only 300 miles on the clock. He supplied it to the hospice at a saving of more than £10,000 had it been bought new. He has offered to support the hospice further by maintaining the car when it needs to be serviced.
Annabelle Holloway, St Mary’s Hospice’s corporate partnerships manager, said: “Our care staff clock up thousands of miles every year visiting patients at their homes – so they need to know they have a vehicle that’s reliable and can cope with the Cumbrian climate.
“We only get around a fifth of the money we need each year from the Government, and the rest comes from our community – meaning eight out of every ten patients have their care paid for by donations.
“With that in mind, we always have to spend money carefully, and it’s fantastic when local businesses step forward to help us out in the way Matt has.”
