A 'generous' annual donation of £74,839.83 has been given to St Mary's Hospice.

The donation was made by Furness Building Society through its Community Affinity Account scheme.

This scheme allows individuals to open savings accounts and contribute to a chosen 'meaningful cause'.

The building society makes a yearly donation to the selected charity based on the average total balance held across all Community Affinity Accounts.

This donation does not affect the savers' own funds.

Since the partnership began in 2008, St Mary's Hospice has received nearly £2 million in donations.

These funds are crucial in supporting the hospice's mission to provide care and services to those in need.

Annabelle Holloway, corporate partnership manager at St Mary's Hospice, said: "St Mary's Hospice is so lucky to have the support of Furness Building Society.

"The annual donation made from their Affinity Account makes a huge difference to our hospice and we cannot put into words how much we appreciate it.

"It costs over 5 million pounds a year to run all of our services for the community and without donations like this we would not be able to be here for local people when they need it the most.

"Thank you so much to everyone at Furness Building Society for making this tremendous support possible."

The 'continued generosity' of Furness Building Society and its members has become a 'cornerstone' of financial support for St Mary's Hospice.

Helen Mason, Ulverston branch manager, said: "We are delighted to make our annual donation to our local Hospice, and we are committed at the Furness Building Society in our support of them.

"We appreciate how important the Hospice is to our community and that many of our valued members use their services, our donation is extremely important and we are very proud of our commitment to this."