Four charities based in the West Midlands have won a £1,000 Christmas gift thanks to nominations from the public. The charities were nominated to win a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

University Hospitals Birmingham Charity, which provides anything that is ‘over and above’ what the NHS offers; whether that be equipment, facilities, research or welfare for staff and patients, and the Birmingham Dogs Home, which focuses on animal welfare in the Midlands (see notes for full list1), are among the local charities set to benefit from the money following overwhelming public support in the area.

10,005 West Midlands residents nominated a cause close to their hearts, with 102 charitable causes in the area receiving votes. The 120 winning charities across the UK were picked at random from those nominated. The full list of the 120 charity winners is available to view online at: www.movementforgood.com/12days

Thanking supporters in the West Midlands, Mark Hews, Group CEO at Ecclesiastical, said: “Owned by a charity, here at Ecclesiastical our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business. We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.

“We hope these donations can bring a positive end to a difficult year and a promising start to 2021.”

A representative from University Hospitals Birmingham Charity said: “The donation went towards our Christmas Appeal to fund hampers for staff and patients, trees around our hospitals, toys for children and activities for elderly patients. Last year was especially difficult in our hospitals. Staff have been working tremendously hard throughout the new and unfamiliar conditions and ultimately they are scared to go to work.

“There were approximately 1000 patients who spent Christmas in hospital and over 20,000 members of staff who worked over Christmas period. The donation helped us make Christmas in our hospitals that little bit more special!”

Last year, Ecclesiastical launched its latest Impact Report to celebrate some of the many good causes it has helped.