The staff of Nationwide International have been praised for their generosity in making a donation to the Agricultural Benevolent Trust after they staged their own “Farmers’ Market” themed raffle in the company’s Douglas offices.

The staff were unanimous in choosing to stage a special event, after hearing of the plight of the Isle of Man’s farming community who lost thousands of animals earlier this year, during the worst snowstorms for 50 years.

“This is a wonderful gesture, and a very warmly welcomed donation,” said Charles Fargher, treasurer and trustee of the ABT, who accepted the cheque at Nationwide’s office.

“The Trust is genuinely overwhelmed by the generosity of the Manx public following the snow storms, and this was a really nice idea of the Nationwide International staff to stage their own Farmers’ Market event in their office.”

The staff of 50 all brought items into the office on a Friday, including Manx vegetables, local butcher’s vouchers, locally made cheeses, chutneys and preserves. All of these items were raffled and ?300 was raised. Nationwide International matched this amount to enable a donation of ?600 to be made to the Trust.

“We all felt we wanted to make a special effort, as the snowstorms had such a devastating affect on the farming community,” said Andrea Callow, one of the people behind the idea.

“We thought it was perfect to stage our own version of a farmers’ market, and it was a major success, enabling us to make a donation to the Trust.”

Charles Fargher added, “It was a great idea. Every penny of this donation, and all others, will go to farmers across the Island, who have been affected by the March snow. Much of what has been raised to date has already been distributed but this is an ongoing process as and when more names are brought to the Trust's attention. The Trust cannot provide compensation for loss of livestock but we can go some small way in helping to alleviate business cash flows which have been hit by loss of income."

“The response from the Manx public has been overwhelming, and covers the whole spectrum of the Manx community. It has been fantastic to see how so many people truly care, and have responded so wonderfully.”

Photo: Members of staff at Nationwide International hand over their donation to Charles Fargher, treasurer of the Agricultural Benevolent Fund.