Maurice Jay’s town tour raises £90,000

U105’s Hospice Town Tour - which called in at Larne on its first day - has raised the fantastic sum of £90,000 for Northern Ireland Hospice’s adult and children’s services.

Presenter Maurice Jay’s mammoth charity road trip around Northern Ireland came to a grand finale in Belfast City Centre. The breakfast show host travelled on a bed fixed to a 26-foot Expeditors truck presenting his show live and meeting the public at each of the 105 locations.

Capturing the hearts and minds of the public, the campaign attracted donations of the bed from Dreams, a driver and truck from Expeditors, Ruby’s tea and coffee van for the live broadcasts. In addition the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service kindly provided use of their Cookstown and Banbridge firestations for two of the live shows and staff accompanied the tour.

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In Larne, local Hospice supporters gathered at Larne Leisure Centre to give a warm welcome to Maurice and customers of the Prom Cafe were able to make donations in lieu of paying for tea or coffee.

Maurice also gladly received cheques for the Hospice on the day, with money raised through a variety of local fundraising events.

Overwhelmed by the success of the six-day tour, Maurice: “What an amazing total. The generosity of Northern Ireland public’s was humbling.

“I have met so many inspirational, funny and motivating people. This event has showcased the generosity of local people and communities. All I had to do was sit in a bed and wear pyjamas. The public and U105’s listeners have come up trumps once again and I wish to thank every single person for their support and donations for Northern Ireland Hospice.”

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The amount raised to date from the U105 Hospice Town Tour will go towards helping the local charity meet its annual £5.8 million fundraising target for adult and children’s hospice services.

Ina Henry, director of fundraising & PR for Northern Ireland Hospice said: “On behalf of all the staff and people who use the local hospice service I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the U105 team and UTV group.

“To pull an event like this off takes passion, talent, dedication and a great sense of humour and together the team from U105, Hospice and the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service have been successful. Most importantly our thanks go to all the people who donated and gave up their time to support Maurice.”

There’s still an opportunity to donate to the U105 Hospice Town Tour by visiting www.justgiving.com/u105towntour or text HOSPICE followed by your contact details to 81222 *standard network charges apply.