Professor Chick Wilson, Department of Chemistry, donated an original letter by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien which raised £4,800 for Dorothy House Hospice Care.
The hospice is the adopted charity of the department due to its support of Professor Grant Buchanan, a previous head of department, and in memory of Mark Russell, a much-loved staff member who was cared for by Dorothy House.
The letter was donated by Chick last November, following a science-themed Bake Off organised by Chemistry postgraduate students to raise money for Dorothy House. Given to Chick by Professor Chris Gilmore, a colleague at the University of Glasgow, the letter was a response to a fan letter that he had written as a young boy.
It contained a striking revelation from Tolkien who wrote: "I shall not write a sequel to the Lord of the Rings because, as is clearly stated in the course of the story, it is the end of the kind of world about which I write."
Chick said: "I’m thrilled the letter has raised such a significant sum and delighted that I was able to donate it to Dorothy House. "Tolkien’s letter was too precious to hang on the wall for fear it would fade, so inspired by the winning ‘Bag End’ cake in our bake sale I decided it should go to someone who would appreciate it while also raising funds to support our outstanding local Hospice.”
Dorothy House serves a population of 550,000 people in Bath and North East Somerset, Wiltshire and Somerset providing compassionate and free, palliative and end of life care.