Chesterfield man, Ash Young, who launched CarMats.co.uk during lockdown, has raised over £11k for Ashgate Hospicecare.
Alongside homeschooling his two kids during lockdown and running a successful digital agency day-to-day, Ash decided to start a new venture, launching his own ecommerce site with a target of reaching £1 million within the first 12 months.
Documenting his progress on social media, Ash has taken CarMats.co.uk from strength to strength, with many followers buying into the journey. On January 25th, just nine months after launching, he hit the £1 million mark.
To mark the occasion, Ash wanted to do something special that would make a difference. He decided to donate the entire revenue (not profit) from the day of reaching £1m, to local charity Ashgate Hospicecare.
Ashgate Hospicecare provides care and support for families and patients across North Derbyshire. They specialise in palliative and end of life care, which they provide free of charge.
Ash said: “Ashgate Hospicecare was the natural choice. They are just up the road from where I live and they do amazing work. A large part of their income comes from the various events they run through the year that we love attending, such as the open air cinema and summer fair which they simply haven’t been able to run this year. So we wanted to take this opportunity to support them and give back.”
When asked how he felt about hitting the milestone, Ash said: “Absolutely amazing, when I set out on the challenge I wasn’t even sure I’d made to hit the £1m revenue figure, so to smash it after 9 months is absolutely amazing.”
On the day of reaching £1m, CarMats.co.uk took 302 orders. The final total revenue was £11,470.24 – all of which will be donated to Ashgate Hospicecare.
Peter Stone, Director of Income Generation at Ashgate Hospicecare, said: “We are absolutely astounded by the generosity of Ash and his new business venture and I would like to thank him on behalf of everyone at Ashgate Hospicecare. We are incredibly grateful for this donation which comes at a time when our shops are closed for a third time and our fundraising events have been cancelled or scaled back.
“Right now, the demand for our specialist end-of-life care has never been greater, as we work with our NHS colleagues to ease the burden on the wider health system by freeing up beds in Chesterfield Royal Hospital and caring for patients in our specialist inpatient unit instead.
“Every pound donated will help our team to offer comfort, care and support to patients across North Derbyshire who are reaching the end of their lives.”
