A FINANCIAL services company has been named as the top fundraiser in a popular annual Manorlands event for the third successive year.

Morses Club team members together coined-in more than £7,500 for the Oxenhope Sue Ryder hospice, by taking part in the Keighley 10k and 5k, which this year was held virtually.

Fifteen members of staff from the Birstall firm and its subsidiary Shelby Finance ran individual routes, with participants tackling courses as far away as Birmingham, Bridlington and even the Isle of Wight, where an employee was holidaying at the time.

Runners included Stephen Jones, whose father received treatment at the Oxenhope Sue Ryder hospice more than 20 years ago – when Stephen was just seven.

“Not only did Manorlands help my dad during his final days but they also provided bereavement counselling for mum and myself,” he said. “They helped me to realise that I was not the only child going through the pain of losing a parent.”

For company secretary Dave Belmont, it was his ninth appearance in the event.

He previously participated over many years with colleagues from his former employer, Acorn Stairlifts at Steeton.

He said: “Manorlands is a great cause which desperately needs money – it costs £10,000 a day to run the hospice. Over the past three years, more than 30 colleagues have taken part in the event.”

Tribute is paid to Morses Club by Manorlands community fundraiser, Liv Moffat.

She said: “We are delighted that Morses Club took part in the 10k once again, having raised nearly £10,000 for us in the last two years.

“Each year we help over 850 people just like Stephen and his family, and this money makes a huge difference to us.”

Overall, this year’s event raised £21,000.

Manorlands supports patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families at the hospice and in the community, across an area covering Craven, Airedale and Wharfedale as well as parts of Bradford. All services are free to patients and their loved ones, but it costs £3.6m a year to keep the hospice running.

People can still support Morses Club at justgiving.com/fundraising/morses-club2020.