TWO charities in Wiltshire have won a £1,000 Christmas gift thanks to nominations from the public.

The charities were nominated to win a share of £120,000 as part of specialist insurer Ecclesiastical's annual 12 days of giving Christmas campaign.

The lucky charities were Bath Cancer Unit Support Group based in Trowbridge, and The Parochial Church Council of the Ecclesiastical Parish of Tisbury

Mark Hews, group chief executive officer at Ecclesiastical, said: “Our core purpose is to contribute to the greater good of society, so charitable giving is at the heart of our business.

"We know that £1,000 can make a huge difference to the incredible work that charities do, and we’re looking forward to seeing how this financial boost will change lives for the better.

"We hope these donations can bring a positive end to a difficult year and a promising start to 2021.”

BCUSG is a small local charity run entirely by volunteers who raise money to purchase and provide facilities and services to benefit cancer patients at the Royal United Hospital Bath.

A BCUSG spokesman said: “We have just donated £340,000 towards the purchase of a Veriton Digital Gamma Camera which is the first of its kind to be installed anywhere in the country.

"The new camera is making a real difference for local cancer patients by reducing scanning times, creating much clearer images to help with diagnosis and resulting in patients being exposed to smaller doses of radiation for their scan. "Currently, we are identifying our next major fundraising project and the fantastic donation of £1,000 from Ecclesiastical Insurance will get us off to a great start.”

A total of 3,534 Wiltshire residents nominated a cause close to their hearts, with 54 charitable causes in the area receiving votes.

The 120 winning charities across the UK were picked at random. The full list of winners can be viewed online at www.movementforgood.com/12days

Last year, Ecclesiastical launched its latest Impact Report to celebrate some of the many good causes it has helped.