A FAMILY hotel has handed out £10,000 to charities despite the “extremely tough” experience of the pandemic.

The Marsham Court Hotel presented £1,000 to each of 10 local causes which have struggled during Covid.

Managing director Rosie Radwell’s family have owned and operated the hotel in Russell-Cotes Road for more than 30 years.

She told the charities gathered at the hotel: “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.”

As well as supporting charities through the business, the family also raise money throughout the year as the Mad Marsham Marchers, staging events and donating money instead of giving family Christmas presents.

The charities given £1,000 were Diverse Abilities, Dorset MIND, Helping Homeless Veterans UK, Julia’s House, Macmillan Caring Locally, Margaret Green Animal Rescue, homelessness charity Michael House, Muscular Dystrophy (Southampton Hospital Charity), MYTIME Carers and the LGBTQ+ health initiative Over the Rainbow.

David Wood, chief executive of Poole-based Helping Homeless Veterans UK, 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.”

Macmillan Caring Locally supports the Mac Unit hospice in Christchurch and is fundraising to replace it with a modern hospice.

Lin Sharp, fundraising and communications director, 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.”