PHYLLIS Tuckwell has recently received a donation from long-term supporters KatCanDo, who gave £3,945 to pay for a new blood fridge for the hospice’s in-patient unit.

KatCanDo is a local charity that raises money for facilities and equipment to support local cancer patients.

Its supporters organise a calendar of fundraising events throughout the year - including barn dances, fashion shows, quiz nights and bridge afternoons – and use the money raised to help local organisations purchase equipment and provide services which are not always funded by the NHS, for the benefit of cancer patients in SW Surrey and NE Hampshire, in hospitals, hospices and in the community.

Since it was formed in 2004, KatCanDo has donated over £30,000 to Phyllis Tuckwell, enabling the charity to buy equipment including two syringe drivers, four new beds, a cough assist device and a hoist for day hospice, which is used to help patients who cannot stand up, to move from their wheelchair to a chair, for example.

This latest donation has enabled Phyllis Tuckwell to buy a new blood fridge which is used to store blood needed for transfusions, so that it can be accessed immediately when it is needed.

Without it, staff at the hospice would need to use a courier service to bring blood over from Frimley Park Hospital, every time a patient needed a transfusion.

On Wednesday, January 24, Caroline Rogers, ward manager on the hospice’s in-patient unit, welcomed Kendra Cardy, Hilary Clark and Paula Buck from KatCanDo, when they came to see the blood fridge which their donation had funded.

“It’s good to know that the money we have donated has made a real difference to Phyllis Tuckwell patients,” said Kendra, whose friend Kate died in the hospice’s in-patient unit in 2006.

“Kate set up KatCanDo in 2004 and we have continued to run the charity in her memory, raising over £300,000 to purchase equipment for hospices, hospitals and nursing services in Hampshire and Surrey.”

“We would like to thank Kendra, Hilary, Paula and all of those who supported KatCanDo in raising this money,” added Caroline Rogers.

“It is very important for us to have blood here at the hospice, ready for us to use when a patient needs it. To have it couriered from Frimley Park Hospital each time would be both costly and time-consuming. Having it here is so much better for our patients.”