STORE staff have given a cash thank-you to the hospital unit which treated a colleague's son.

Workers at Marks and Spencer, in Durham, raised £2,130 for the Children's Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) at Newcastle's Freeman Hospital by donating money instead of sending each other Christmas cards.

The company matched the cash, taking the total up to £4,260.

Lee Fodden, 11, whose mother Vivienne, is a sales advisor in the textiles department, was given dilation treatment to overcome a narrowing aorta.

His mother said the doctors and nurses on the unit were "worth their weight in gold".

CHUF administrator Sarah Atkinson said: "We are ecstatic with this donation."

Anyone wanting to make a donation should call 0191-213 1365 or log on to www.chuf.org.uk