Hitachi Capital has donated two vans to the Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands.

The two vans are ex-lease vehicles and have been fully refurbished and branded with the charity’s logo.

One van is to be used by the hospice in Solihull, with the second going to the charity’s fundraising team to support events.

The donation by Hitachi Capital has been welcomed by the hospice, which had an urgent requirement for this resource and has eliminated theexpense of short-term vehicle hire.

Peter Lee, head of corporate development at Marie Curie said: “We are delighted that Hitachi Capital has made this generous donation, which will be of great value both to our hospice and fundraising team. Here at Solihull, the van will be put to use immediately for a number of tasks, such as taking blood and samples to the local hospital and delivering much needed equipment to our patients’ homes, particularly at short notice, helping the patient to get home sooner, knowing the right equipment is there for them.

Catherine Follows, sales and marketing support manager at Hitachi Capital said: “It has been great coming to the hospice to understand the positive impact these vans will have in helping Marie Curie support patients with terminal illnesses and of course their families too. I would also like to say thank you to the staff at the hospice who showed us round what really is a fantastic building that is surely setting the benchmark for other hospices around the country.”

The Marie Curie Hospice, West Midlands provides specialist medical care free-of-charge for people with terminal illnesses, and emotional support for their families, giving them the best possible quality of life. People can go to the hospice as an inpatient or visit regularly for pain relief, physio, complementary therapies and more. The hospice staff work hand in hand with the Marie Curie Nurses in the community to help people return to their own homes and be looked after there, if it is there wish to do so.

Picture caption(from left to right): Kate Swift and Nafisa Bora from Hitachi’s company charity committee, Marie Curie nurse Heather Cooke, Esther Limberg and Catherine Follows, also from Hitachi’s company charity committee.