Walsall Healthcare’s Well Wishers charity has been knocked out by a heavyweight donation of £7,500 from construction firm Tilbury Douglas Engineering.
A black tie dinner boxing show hosted by the national building contractor featured appearances from former world champions Richie Woodall and Steve Collins, as well as surprise guest appearances from Team England’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games boxing medallists Aaron Bowen, Gemma Richardson and Lewis Williams.
A profit of £15,032 was generated from ticket sales of 250 for the sell-out event at Drayton Manor Park – packed with staff and suppliers – which featured 14 bouts between Tamworth Amateur Boxing Club and an England Select side, from schoolboys aged 10, through to seniors aged 19.
An auction of around 30 items of signed memorabilia, including an Aston Villa shirt, Frank Bruno boxing gloves, a Formula One driver’s cap and a ceramic poppy from the Tower of London, topped up the total.
The money was split equally between Well Wishers and The Cornerpost Education Centre in Tamworth. Well Wishers’ portion will boost the £20,000 garden appeal at Hollybank House Rehabilitation Unit in Willenhall.
Tilbury Douglas is the main contractor for Walsall Healthcare’s c£40m Urgent and Emergency Care Centre, which is due to be fully functional in the new year at the Manor Hospital.
Tony Nicholls, event organiser and Regional Operations Manager, Tilbury Douglas Engineering, is a coach at Tamworth ABC and on the Team England pathway.
He said: “The night was a huge success. Our target was to beat the £12,000 we raised from the previous show and we smashed that by £3,000.
“One of the big things about the business is looking to develop our social values in relation to the people we work with.
“We have been working with Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust for about two years now and we have a strong relationship with them. We have joined forces previously with the Wolf Run, and raising money for our local communities is something we do regularly.
“There are hundreds of needy causes and everyone here wants to assist to make our local communities better, so we think the best way to help out is to donate the money to the people we work with – and what better cause than Well Wishers?
“We have other things planned over the next 12 months which will potentially help the Trust too so there’s more to look forward to.
“We like to stage these shows bi-annually but because of COVID-19, this was the first one we’d staged since October 2018 and the tickets sold out within a week and a half of going on sale.”
Georgie Westley, Fundraising Manager at Well Wishers, said: “We’re very thankful to Tilbury Douglas Engineering for its generous donation. We’ve enjoyed a fantastic relationship with the company and hopefully it will continue to benefit our patients.”