TVs worth more than £6,000 have been donated to Mountbatten Hampshire by a local air conditioning company.

Closewood Air Conditioning responded to the charity’s ‘wishlist’ by buying 21 TVs, one for each bed at the hospice’s inpatient unit.

Closewood started supporting Mountbatten after three close relatives of MD Dean Kirby and his daughter, Keeleigh, were cared for in quick succession in 2021.

“My father, mother-in-law and a very dear auntie were all looked after by Mountbatten within the space of a few months,” said Dean.

“As a business, it is really important for us to support local causes but with Mountbatten, we also have a very strong personal connection.

“We are 100 percent committed to supporting Mountbatten and we understand and appreciate how important it is to ensure its end-of-life care services remain available to our communities.

“It was obviously a very difficult time for us as a family but when you have a charity like Mountbatten by your side, it makes so much difference.”

Dean and Keeleigh, also a director at Closewood, wanted their donation to support lots of patients.

“From our experience of my nan being at the hospice, we felt the TVs were perfect,” said Keeleigh.

“We know people, in general, have perceptions about hospices and I did too, until I went to Mountbatten for the first time.

“It is a very homely place and the staff do so much to make people feel comfortable and happy.

“For patients to be able to watch or listen to what they want, when they want, is a really big thing.”

Mountbatten Hampshire currently supports around 1,500 people every day across Southampton and large parts of Hampshire, with demand for its services constantly growing.

Alongside its hospice inpatient unit, the charity also provides 24/7 care to people at home.

“We are really grateful to Dean, Keeleigh and the team at Closewood for such a generous donation,” said Mountbatten CEO Nigel Hartley.

“The support of local businesses is so important to us, so we thank Closewood again for getting behind us."