FUNDRAISING is blooming at a garden centre and nursery.

Perrywood Garden Centre and Nurseries in Tiptree has raised more than £5,000 for St Helena Hospice.

The centre presented a cheque to the charity, the result of a year’s fundraising.

Staff took part in events including in-store collections, summer parties, gardening club tours of Perrywood and a Christmas shopping evening and jumper day.

Staff also took part in sponsored events such as marathons for which the garden centre match-funded the money raised.

Among them, Zoe Williams personally raised £1,400 by running the Chester marathon in memory of her grandmother who was looked after at the hospice.

Hospice fundraising partnerships manager Chloe Winter said: “The level of commitment from all the staff across the organisation has been outstanding.”