A FUNDRAISING family have raised several thousand pounds to help support the families of seriously ill children at Bristol Children’s Hospital — thought to be one of the largest single donations the charity has received for a long time.

Sue Hutt, from Okehampton, along with her three daughters Lauren, 28, Ebony, 33 and Ellsie, 18, raised £6,027.85 for Ronald McDonald House — a charity that provides free accommodation for families of children being treated at Bristol Children’s Hospital thanks to the generosity and support of local businesses and townspeople.

Sue has raised money for the charity before and this time was joined by her daughters to hold raffles, a Halloween party and auctions to raise the money to show their appreciation after the family stayed at the house when Lauren was undergoing operations on her heart as a child.

Sue said: ’Lauren was born with complicated congenital heart defects and was only given a year to live. As time went on the hospital was able to do procedures on her. She underwent four cardiac operations — the first three were before the Ronald McDonald House was there so we had to stay in Bed and Breakfasts nearby, my husband sometimes ended up sleeping in the car. For her last operation we were able to stay at the house. The last thing you want to do when you have a sick child is to run around trying to find somewhere to stay. We wanted to raise this money as a thank you for what they did for us and continue to do for hundreds of families every year.’

Sue said they thought they would have been lucky to have raised £3,000 but the donations just ’snowballed’.

Sue and her daughters presented the cheque to Ronald McDonald House, Bristol last week.

See this Thursday’s Times for the full report.