A CHARITY providing palliative care and complementary therapy for people with life-limiting conditions, has been chosen to benefit from the next 12 months of fundraising at Keighley's Airedale Shopping Centre.

Members of the public overwhelmingly voted to select Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice.

Manorlands, which also provides advice, treatment and support for patients and their families to help people live independently, was picked to follow the Airedale Centre's 2016 charity – Martin House Children's Hospice.

Following on from a week-long vote on the centre’s Facebook page, where the people of Keighley and Bradford district were asked to pick their favourite charity from a selection of four, Manorlands ran away with a staggering 95 per cent of the votes cast.

Airedale Centre manager, Steve Seymour, said he was thrilled to be able to support this good cause.

“Manorlands does important work in the region and provides an incredible range of services for patients and their families," he said.

“As well as the key care for those that are in the hospice, they also work closely with a number of specialist teams in local hospitals and provide 24-hour advice and care to professionals throughout the region.

“As a centre, we pride ourselves on working with both local and national charities on a wide range of activities.

"We hope that by adopting Manorlands as our chosen charity of the year, we will not only be raising much-needed funds for them but also helping to raise awareness of their valuable work.

“The response from our shoppers to the voting was fantastic, with more than 700 votes cast.

"We’re always looking at ways of having members of the public involved with Airedale, and this was a perfect way of getting their invaluable input. "Manorlands Hospice is a charity chosen by the people of Keighley, and gives them real ownership of the activity that is set to take place over the next year.”

Sue Ryder fundraiser for Keighley, Andrew Wood, said he was delighted to hear that the hospice had been chosen and thanked everyone who had voted.

He added: “This is a great boost for us at Sue Ryder Manorlands, as it means potentially thousands of pounds can be raised to help us care for more local people when they and their families really need us.

"We'd already been looking forward to the Airedale Centre’s involvement in the Keighley BigK 10K, and looking further ahead we better give Santa a call and book him in for the grotto!"