EASTNOR Castle has given an early Christmas present to a local charity, by nominating it as its Charity of the Year for 2017.

Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury, says it will offer "a significant support package to a nominated charity every year", and for 2017, it has nominated the Leominster based charity, Megan Baker House.

The charity, based at Leominster, helps local children with motor disabilities, "teaching them ways in which they can live their lives as independently as possible".

David Littlewood, General Manager of Eastnor Castle, said: “We support lots of local charities in many ways, and will continue to do so, but wanted to be able to offer a formal package of support which would make a real difference to a local charity.

"Eastnor Castle is a family home and visitor attraction so we wanted to choose a charity which linked to our family values and Megan Baker House does that. Our staff were given the opportunity to nominate a local charity and Megan Baker House was a clear favourite amongst the team.”

The support package which Eastnor Castle will be providing includes complimentary tickets, displays at their events, a collection area in the visitor entrance, free use of the castle for a charity ball in September and free use of the grounds for a private family fun day.

Lee Gough, Chief Executive of Megan Baker House, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Eastnor Castle have chosen Megan Baker House as their charity to support in 2017. We are a small charity that has a huge impact on the lives of children with motor disabilities.

"As a self-funding charity, we rely on grants from trusts and community support to fund the £400,000 needed annually and we are delighted that Eastnor Castle has given us this wonderful opportunity, to raise funds as well as reaching more families who may need our services.”

Megan Baker House offers free Conductive Education Services at its centre for children, teenagers and adults with special educational needs and physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, head injury, stroke, dyspraxia and early on-set Parkinson’s disease.