A HUDDERSFIELD shopping centre and a local charity have joined forces to help seriously ill children.

The Packhorse Shopping Centre has adopted The West Yorkshire Forget Me Not Trust as its chosen charity of the year.

Over the next 12 months, the centre’s shops will display collection tins and available retail units will be used for events, fundraising and awareness events.

The Packhorse Shopping Centre’s general manager, David Heathcote-Smith, said: “We are passionate about the local community, and it is a genuine pleasure to be involved.”

The West Yorkshire Forget Me Not Trust aims to build a children’s hospice and respite centre at Brackenhall to help children with life-limiting conditions.

The trust needs to raise more than £3m to build the centre and then must raise at least a further £1.5m each year for running costs.

Gina Fielding, the trust’s community fundraiser, said: “We now have a popular platform in the heart of Huddersfield that will help us immensely.”