A BLACKBURN business has donated £10,000 worth of beds to East Lancashire Hospice.

Select Medical, of Whitebirk Industrial Estate, provided the specialist beds which will make patients more comfortable and make it easier for them to get about unaided.

Ray Booth, sales and marketing manager of Select Medical, said: “The hospice is very special, it does so much to help those who are seriously ill and their families across our local area.

“It’s a real privilege to work with them and lend our support to the remarkable work they do.

“They have been contemplating updating their beds for some time and we have helped to replace all the beds.

“The money saved can be put to good use elsewhere.”

The electrically-operated low beds will assist staff at the hospice to provide necessary patient care without putting unnecessary strain on their backs, a major problem witnessed in every care establishment. Sharon Crymble, fundraising manager East Lancashire Hospice, said: “On behalf of the patients, volunteers, staff and trustees of the hospice, I would like to say a very big thank-you to Select Medical for providing us with the beds.

“Our beds were due to be replaced so the money can now be used towards helping us to continue to provide care to people who are coping with a terminal illness.”

Father-of-three Mr Booth, who is married to Emma, was born and bred in Shadsworth before starting the company in 2001 with just himself and a van.

He said: “It was a tough decision to quit a good job and start my own business, but it was something I had always wanted to do.”

Now Select Medical employs 14 staff and holds contracts with the NHS, private care homes and hospices across the North West. The company is also breaking into the national market.

The firm helped Mr Booth’s old school Blakewater College, now Blackburn Central High School, to raise money to buy instruments within a newly established music department and during 2010 it helped send six pupils and three staff to Taiwan for the First Lego League world finals.