Patients at three Oxfordshire hospices are set to benefit from a new charity initiative.

Helen and Douglas House Hospice, in East Oxford, Sir Michael Sobell House, in Headington, and Katharine House Hospice, in Banbury, will all receive funds from a campaign run by the Midcounties Co-operative.

The three homes — which all care for people with life limiting illnesses — are among 11 hospices in the Midcounties Co-operative region that will receive cash after the business chose to name Help the Hospices as its charity of the year.

Workers at nearly 600 Co-op outlets have already begun raising money for the charity.

In Oxfordshire, Co-op shop and pharmacy workers wore red and invited customers to make donations over the St Valentine’s Day weekend.

Staff at The Midcounties Co-operative Pharmacy in Charlbury, west Oxfordshire, raised £43.87 by asking customers to make donations before guessing the number of sweets in a jar for a chance to win it.

Pharmacist David Stacey said: “We had quite a lot of entries for it. The customers were really keen on the cause.”

Other fundraising activities planned for the year include an initiative where employees and customers will be encouraged to donate household items to hospices and a ‘Go Yellow’ month in June to mark the traditional hospice colour.

Events will also be held to mark World Hospice and Palliative Care Day in October.

A Midcounties Co-operative spokesman said the company hoped to raise thousands of pounds for the charity, but could not provide an exact target amount.

Help the Hospices corporate partnerships manager Stephen Ballantyne said: “We are really delighted to have been chosen as The Midcounties Co-operative’s Charity of the Year for 2009.

“The partnership will make a big difference to all the individual hospices involved.

“One in three people in the UK have direct experience of hospice care so it is a cause that many people are keen to support.”

Kelly Houghton, corporate and community fundraiser at Sobell House Charity, said: “We are delighted to hear The Midcounties Co-operative have chosen to support local hospices in 2009.

“We are really looking forward to working with them.

“We depend greatly upon the support of companies in Oxfordshire to help maintain the high level of service within Sobell House and to deliver the care our patients deserve.”

ghamilton@oxfordmail.co.uk