THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised for charity in memory of an inspirational woman who helped disabled children in Keighley.

Joanne Slaven, who had worked for 25 years within Bradford Social Care department, was just 56 when she died as a result of a brain tumour that had been diagnosed less than two years previously.

A collection held during a service of thanksgiving for her life at St Peter's Church, in her home village of Addingham, on June 14 and the proceeds from Addingham Cinema Club’s special screening of Cinema Paradiso last week raised a total of £2,300, which will be split between the Friends of Clockhouse in Keighley and the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope.

For the past 13 years, Joanne had worked as the manager at Clockhouse, a Keighley-based respite home for children and young people with complex health and disabilities. The donation to Friends of Clockhouse will help to provide additional equipment and social events not covered by statutory council budgets.

Her colleague at Clockhouse, assistant unit manager Paula Denny, said: "She was an inspirational woman, who had a real gift for managing people.

"Joanne, or Jo as her staff called her, had a quirky sense of humour, which was most endearing, and all staff have mentioned the fact she could 'tell you off' in such a nice way that the individual on the team only realised in retrospect they had been reprimanded.

"Furthermore, staff were happy to amend the way in which they worked. Apparently, chocolate biscuits were heavily involved!

"Joanne cared deeply for her unit, the children who attended and her staff. She was always on top of her fundraising game, never to shy to ask for things for Clockhouse and to get people involved.

"Jo liaised with architects to draw up plans for the extension at Clockhouse which was completed in 2012. Ofsted reports at Clockhouse of 'outstanding' or 'good' are a secure reminder that Joanne's aptitude for management was of a very high standard.

"We all loved her. The unit will go on and we will keep the spirit of Joanne alive at Clockhouse by trying to place her work ethos at the centre of everything we do."

Since the start of 2016, Joanne and her family had received a great deal of community-based support from the NHS and from staff at Manorlands. All of this resulted in Joanne remaining at home right up until she died peacefully – surrounded by her family – on June 2. The donation to Manorlands will assist them in their ongoing valuable work with other patients and their families.

Joanne is survived by her husband, Colin; two daughters, Sally and Rosie; her mother, Mary; step-father, Bob; and two elder brothers, Tim and Chris.

The family wishes to thank everyone who has loved and supported them throughout this time and to those who contributed to the collection, which resulted in the donations being made to Clockhouse and Manorlands.