CUSTOMERS at the Sainsbury's store in the Maltings have chosen Salisbury Hospice Charity as the supermarket's charity of the year..

All of the proceeds of in-store fundraising over the next twelve months will be donated to the hospice, which supports about 1,000 local people every year, providing medical, spiritual and therapeutic support to patients and their families.

It costs nearly £2.2m a year for the hospice to provide these services and the hospice relies largely on public support to foot the bill.

Store manager Gary Gunn said: “We've had a great response from our customers this year, both through in-store and online votes. We're delighted to have chosen a charity which touched so many of our colleagues; hearts.”

Each year the Sainsbury's Local Charity scheme gives customers the chance to vote for their favourite local charity to be considered to receive a year's worth of support from their Sainsbury's store.

Last year, staff and customers raised more than £1,500 for St Marks Pre-School.