A CHILDREN’S hospice has been given a £15,000 boost through a York hotel’s policy of inviting guests to adopt bears left in their bedrooms.

The Best Western Monkbar Hotel offers guests the opportunity to take home Martin House teddy bears, left on their pillows by housekeepers, in exchange for a donation of at least £3.

The money goes to Martin House children’s hospice near Boston Spa and, thanks to visitors’ generosity – many leaving in excess of £5 for one bear – £15,000 has now been raised.

Hospice fundraising manager Alison Wort presented the hotel with a certificate acknowledging the sum.

Best Western Monkbar Hotel director June Nelsey: “It has been a very easy and effective way to raise a significant amount of money for this wonderful cause, and something we will continue to do until every little bear has been adopted.”