BUSINESSES who have made significant donations to St Teresa's Hospice have been thanked for their help.

A banner was unveiled at Darlington's Cornmill Centre celebrating companies' contributions to the charity's Giving to Life appeal.

The logos of the four companies, Darlington Building Society, Newsquest, which owns The Northern Echo, the Cornmill Shopping Centre and Supreme Care Homes, are on the banner.

A further 11 companies will be added later this month and more names will be added in the future.

St Teresa's Hospice provides day care for up to 20 patients, and thousands of hours of care for people at home.

The Giving to Life appeal has raised £250,000 to open a six bed, full-time care unit at the Woodlands Road hospice.

Hospice director Jane Bradshaw said: "Although we offer a wide range of care options, if a patient does not wish to die at home, has problem symptoms, or their carer can no longer cope alone, there are no local hospice beds available.

"I cannot stress often enough that we need everyone to continue their fund-raising efforts, large or small."