Everyone here at AvailableCar, are pleased to announce that we are to sponsor a full-time nurse at our nominated Charities, Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People based in Loughborough.

AvailableCar and Rainbows feel that by sponsoring a nurse full-time, we will make a significant contribution to the day-to-day running of this much needed facility.

Having supported Rainbows since 2010, AvailableCar have now raised more than £60,000 in total, and the figure continues to grow substantially every month, meaning they can fund the nurse for a longer period of time.

Rainbows, is a purpose-built children's facility, which opened its doors in 1994 to meet the needs of the children and young people, who are affected by life-limiting and life-threatening conditions.

Rainbows, although located in Leicestershire, is used by people across the whole of the East Midlands as it is the regions only children’s hospice.

From October, Maggie Smale who has a full-time Nurse role at Rainbow’s will be sponsored for the next twelve months by AvailableCar and their customers. Maggie is an essential part of the team at Rainbows and her job involves looking after children and young people who are in Rainbows for respite stays, symptoms management or end of life care.

As part of only three nurses who are working at any one time, Maggie is critical in looking after the children, working with Doctors and the Care Team and supporting family and friends, by offering knowledge and ensuring they have everything they need.

Graham and Alison Bell, the Directors at AvailableCar visited the Hospice on the 22nd September to meet Maggie and some of the children and their families.

Graham said: “The reason why our fundraising has been such a success is mainly because of our fantastic Team and our customers. When a car is bought from AvailableCar, we ask the customer for a small donation of up to £5 on top of their overall car cost and AvailableCar then match the donation by doubling it. On average over 70% of people kindly donate, of which we are extremely grateful as we are now able to make a huge difference by funding Maggie’s nursing role.”

Previous to this, the AvailableCar Team have also raised thousands of pounds for Rainbows by running in marathons, taking part in organised sky-dives and sponsored cycles.

Graham Bell continues: “We believe that Rainbows really is an incredibly important facility for children and their families in the Midlands region which needs all the help and support possible, which is why we also joined the Rainbows Business Club. We really hope the work we do, in-terms of fundraising and in-store branding helps to raise awareness of Rainbows with all our customers and visitors.”

“We are delighted to meet Maggie in-person and the whole AvailableCar Team hope to get to know her better as we begin to work together.”