The Highland Hospice now owns 19% of Scotttish Cup champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle

A Scottish charity has been gifted over half a million pounds worth of shares in a Scottish Premiership football team.

The Highland Hospice, which provides palliative care for people throughout the Highlands, has been given a 19% stake in Inverness Caledonian Thistle by a donor who has been described as a “supportive Highland family-owned business”.

The 573,950 shares were originally bought for £1 each but it is not known how much they would fetch in the current market.

With £930,000 still to find for the Project Build Appeal we need to make sure this benefits our patients and their families

The donation means the charity, which opened in 1987, is the second largest shareholder in the current Scottish Cup champions.

A spokesperson for the charity said the gift was "phenomenally generous" adding it put the hospice in a "very unique situation".

The Highland Hospice would be entitled to seek a place on the football club’s board but it has confirmed instead of doing so it would look to sell the shares to raise funds to pay for a £4.5 million redevelopment of its centre.

Its Project Build Appeal was launched in April 2014 and work is currently underway on building the new centre which it is hoped will be finished by October and will provide a modern inpatient unit along with improved facilities.

The spokesperson added: “With £930,000 still to find for the Project Build Appeal we need to make sure this benefits our patients and their families.”