A big-hearted Bournemouth hotel has presented £1,000 each to ten local charities that struggled financially during the Covid pandemic.

Managing Director Rosie Radwell’s family has owned and operated the Marsham Court Hotel for more than 30 years.

In addition to supporting a raft of charities through the business, the family also raise money throughout the year as The Mad Marsham Marchers, staging events and even donating money to charity instead of gifting family Christmas presents.

Rosie invited representatives of Diverse Abilities, Dorset Mind, Helping Homeless Veterans UK, Julia’s House, Macmillan Caring Locally, Margaret Green Animal Rescue, the homeless charity Michael House, Muscular Dystrophy (Southampton Hospital Charity), MYTIME Young Carers and the LGBTQ+ health initiative Over the Rainbow, to the hotel for a cheque presentation.

She told the gathered charities: “The last 18 months have been extremely tough – both for hospitality and also for many wonderful local charities like yours, which rely on fundraising to carry out their work.

“With this in mind, when we were able to re-open on May 17, we decided to set aside £1 per room per night from all of our private bookings and donate all that money to charity.

“The resulting £10,000 is what has been raised since that day and it gives us enormous pleasure to pass that on to you to help in your excellent work.”

David Wood, CEO of Helping Homeless Veterans UK, based in Poole, said: “Our charity is only two years old, yet it has already helped to house 161 homeless veterans.

“This fantastic donation will go towards helping provide even more veterans with homes.”

Claire Cooper, Fundraising officer with Poole-based Diverse Abilities, which supports children and adults with profound physical and learning disabilities said: “We’re so grateful and honoured to be chosen as one of the charities to receive this donation from Rosie and her team.

“Everyone has faced significant challenges over the past 18 months, and providing help and support is more important than ever.”

Lin Sharp is Fundraising and Communications Director for Macmillan Caring Locally, the charity which supports the Mac Unit hospice in Christchurch.

The charity is currently fundraising to replace the outdated unit with a new, modern hospice for the community.

Lin said: “Rosie’s and her family’s support for ours and many other local charities is simply inspirational.

“They don’t just donate money, they take time to build lasting relationships with us and we are so grateful for their fabulous generosity and support.”