A WINCHESTER children’s hospice has received a generous donation from a UK car manufacturer.

Naomi House and Jacksplace in Sutton Scotney have been given a truck by Toyota Material Handling UK to help them provide essential services to the children they care for.

Recently the charity moved to a larger warehouse to allow for more stock to be held. However the move has put pressure on the amount of manual handling carried out, largely by the charity’s volunteers.

It is hoped the BT Staxio powered stacker will reduce the need to lift and carry the equipment by hand.

Mark Smith, deputy chief executive at Naomi House and Jacksplace said: “We are delighted to take delivery of a truck, donated by Toyota, to help improve safety and efficiency in our increasingly busy warehouse. Rapid expansion of our network of shops has boosted our efforts to raise money.

“However, with more shops in need of stock and more goods being donated, Toyota’s generous gift could not have come at a better time. We are extremely grateful to the team at Toyota for the support they have shown to Naomi House and Jacksplace hospices.” Trevor Fryer, local sales representative said: “I first met the charity to advise which warehouse equipment would best suit their operation and provided a quote. However I soon became aware of the hard work and dedication from all the team at the Naomi House and Jacksplace hospices and wanted to help with their fundraising activities.

“At Toyota we are aware of the difference that efficient material handling equipment can make to a warehouse operation and we wanted to make sure that Naomi House and Jacksplace hospices warehouse operation was the most cost-saving, timesaving and safest it could be. We believe that this has been achieved by the powerful, but safe and easy-to-use, BT Staxio powered stacker catering to all their material handling needs.”