A dance night and bingo session and events organised by the local darts league in Bury St Edmunds have helped to boost the funds of the Every Heart Matters appeal by just over £2,000.
Angina sufferer Jane Hampton wanted to do something to help boost the campaign and along with her daughter they organised the dance and a bingo events at Brandon raising a total of £1,510.
Meanwhile, players in the Bury and District Ladies Darts League collected £500 from a series of raffles and fundraising events throughout the year with a total of £1,000 being collected.
But the league decided to split it down the middle with half going to the appeal, which is aiming to raise £500,000 to help create a fully integrated cardiac centre at the West Suffolk Hospital, in Bury St Edmunds, and the other half to the Bury Town Pastors.
About 50 people turned up for the dance event held at the Brandon Leisure Centre with music provided by local DJ Kai Sooter with £1,060 collected.
Meanwhile, a bingo session held earlier at the Church Institute resulted in a further £450.
Jane said: “I have angina and when I attended the hospital for treatment I saw a sign about the campaign, came home and told my daughter and she said shall we do something to raise money for it?”
So the 59-year-old, who lives in The Sandgalls, in Brandon, linked up with her 37-year-old daughter Kelly Grimwood, from Weeting, to organize both events.
They had a host of business donate up to 50 raffle prizes and Jane, who is a cleaner at Centre Parcs, in Elveden, paid thanks them all.
And she had a special word of praise for Nanny McCup Cake who organised games at the dance and donated the money she raised from them to the fund – a total of £130.
Sally Daniels, appeal manager, said: “Jane and her family and friends have just been amazing. They worked so hard to put on these two events and it certainly paid off with a fantastic amount raised. This money really will make a difference and we can’t thank them enough.”
And Katie Taylor, the chairlady of the darts league, said that up to 70 women, whose ages range from 16 to 80, play in the league which runs from September to June.
There are a total of 10 teams with eight from Bury and one each from Risby and Woolpit.
“We have tournaments in the league as well and we chose the two charities to donate the money to,” she said.
Sue Aris, who plays for the Westbury team nominated the appeal as her husband had a quadruple bypass at Papworth Hospital after having a heart attack on Christmas Day in 2015 and also being treated at the West Suffolk Hospital.
She said: “I nominated My WiSH Charity’s Every Heart Matters appeal because I know having a new cardiac centre at West Suffolk Hospital will make a huge difference to so many people.
“It will save, not only the patient from having to travel, but also their families.”
And league treasurer Diane Groves added: “We are proud of the fact that we are still in existence after 40 odd years. With fewer pubs in Bury the numbers of teams are dwindling and all the charity donation monies came from the ladies that are playing.”
She added that they would welcome any new members. They can contact her via email at degroves@talktalk.net or go to the Facebook page for details at https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=bury%20%26%20district%20ladies%20darts%20league
The West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is investing £5.2m in developing a state of the art cardiac suite that will provide quicker access to more treatments, but the £500,000 My WiSH Charity is hoping to raise will lead to the whole unit, which is currently fragmented on different floors, being brought together in one purpose-built centre.
If you want to support the Every Heart Matters appeal go to the website www.mywishcharity.co.uk and if you would like to donate to the appeal you can do so by going to Justgiving.com/ehma or text EHMA17 £10 to 70070.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here