NOT many women would like to be pushed round town in a hospital bed but for one woman it is a labour of love.

Staff and volunteers from St Teresa’s Hospice, in Darlington, pushed a bed around the town centre collecting donations from shoppers.

And sitting up in the bed shaking a collecting tin was Yvonne Rowe, whose letter to The Northern Echo all the way back in 1985, planted the seed for what ultimately became St Teresa’s Hospice.

The bed push is an annual fundraiser for the hospice which relies largely on donations to fund the £2m cost of its services each year.

Nancy Spencer, who helps organise the fundraiser, was delighted with the reaction they received from shoppers in the town on Saturday afternoon.

“It was absolutely fantastic,” she said. “The sun shone brightly for us and we couldn’t have asked for a better day to do our sixth annual bed push.

“We raised £717.93 in the collection buckets but we raised a whole lot more with our flag day which was taking place at the same time. We always get such a good reaction from people who are always keen to donate.

“There is so much bad news in the world that it is always good to do something positive and cheer people up – which is exactly what the bed push is about. I always have the job of going into the pubs, which is good fun, and people are just so happy to help us out.

“I would like to thank Aidan Liddell from Costa coffee who supplied us with free drinks all day – it’s things like that that make it all worthwhile.”

Fundraisers from the Hospice work throughout the year to bring cash in such as with upcoming events including members of the Richmond Support Group being on the streets of Richmond on Saturday, July 8 between 9am and noon and Knockout Challenge 2017 at Blackwell Meadows Darlington Rugby Club, on Sunday 16 from 11am to 4pm.

The fundraiser is a wild and wet team event for all the family, the only entry criteria is that entrants have to be one metre or taller to be part of the team and join in the fun. Teams are made up of six to ten people, and anyone wanting to enter should call the hospice on 01325-254321 or email events@darlingtonhospice.org.uk

For more information about the charity visit darlingtonhospice.org.uk