THE memory of a well-respected GlaxoSmithKline employee has been honoured with a £20,000 donation to St Mary's Hospice.

The hospice was selected by the employees through a voting system where tokens were used to place a ‘vote’ for one of four chosen charities in the company's 70th year in Ulverston.

The winning charity poignantly coincides with the loss of a well-respected employee at GSK, who spent time at the hospice before his death.

Chris Dodwell, known as Bob, worked at GSK for over 30 years, and died in October.

He spent his last days at St Mary’s where son Matt said the hospice made the last two weeks of his dad’s life easier.

He said: “The hospice means an awful lot to me and my family.

“It is an amazing place and it made a huge difference to us."

He will be running the Great Manchester Run to raise for the hospice, and also has plans to set up a charity day at Cartmel Football Club in June.

“My dad loved that place and that will be another way of raising money for St Mary’s," said Matt.

GSK site director Phil Wilson said the company wanted to do something special.

“We have three goals in celebrating 70 years, firstly involving the community and giving back," he said.

“We wanted to build local charity links.

“£4,200 was raised through events such as Skiddaw and total warrior.

“We did a collection for staff to vote with tokens. St Mary’s stood out as the charity of choice that people voted for. It shows how much they value St Mary’s.

“What a fantastic and amazing place.

“We want to continue to have strong links to charities and continue to provide support.”

Helen Carlson, head of fundraising at St Mary’s, said “St Mary’s was born to serve those within our community that need us most.

“We understand that despite not being able to change the outcome we can change the journey and fill days with as many moments that matter as possible.

“The stark reality is we need just shy of £9,000 a day to run our services, £7,000 of which is bought in by voluntary income.

“To receive £20,000 is staggering and on behalf of everyone at the hospice."

She added: "Thank you to everyone who voted and thank you for helping us to continue serving our community and for making moments that matter.”