A GENEROUS £500 donation from a Windermere business has helped push the Hospice Angels campaign to more than £27,000.

The Westmorland Gazette's campaign is close to reaching its £30,000 target thanks to the members of Lakeland's Business and People Support team.

"Each Christmas, teams and departments from across the Lakeland business have the opportunity to nominate a charity to receive a donation from Lakeland’s staff managed charity fund," said Suzanne Allen, the Business and People Support Team. manager at Lakeland. "This year, the Business and People Support team nominated the Westmorland Gazette’s Hospice Angels Campaign.

"The team at St John’s Hospice provide invaluable support to patients and their families right across the South Lakes, and we’re delighted to have been able to support the campaign with a donation."

The Hospice Angels campaign launched at the start of September. It aims to raise £30,000 in order to fund a St John's Hospice at Home nurse for one full year.

Hospice at Home nurses work every day of the year and are available 24-hours a day - covering the South Lakes, north Lancashire and North Yorkshire - offering specialist palliative care at the end of life to allow those who wish to remain in their homes during their final days.

The hospice and all of its services costs £4m to run each year. Although a third of this comes from the NHS, the rest is reliant entirely on donations.

This weekend, Kendal Rotary will again be backing the campaign. Members will be collecting alongside Levens Choir in Kendal.

Singers and collectors will be at the Westmorland Shopping Centre from 9.30-11am and in the library from 11.30am-12pm on Saturday (December 17).