TRIBUTES were paid to the fundraising efforts of the people of Tavistock at the recent opening of an extended ward at Derriford Hospital.

Tavistock gave generously, donating more than £11,000 to help towards the £400,000 extension to Bracken Ward.

Adrian Copplestone, chairman of Plymouth and District Leukaemia Fund (PDLF), told the gathering of doctors, nurses, patients and fundraisers that PDLF had raised £1,800,000 over the past two decades and had provided £200,000 towards the creation of 12 additional beds for Bracken Ward in the hospital’s Stem Cell Transplantation Unit.

Adrian paid special tribute to Tavistock Rotary Club and to fundraising skydivers from Whitchurch Julie Williams and Graham Parker.

Tavistock Rotary Club raised £10,000 to buy five state-of-the-art chemotherapy pumps, which are already being used in the hospital. The staff of the haematology unit proudly showed Tavistock Rotary Club’s past presidents Catherine Bailey and Graham Parker, who led the club’s chemotherapy challenge, that the pumps had ‘revolutionised’ the treatment of leukaemia in the unit.

Catherine said: ‘We found that Tavistock owes a massive debt to the work of Derriford’s haematology unit. Thousands of local people all have reason to be thankful for the work of these dedicated doctors and nurses. We are proud that the rotary club has been able to play a small part in this vital work.’

Thanking the staff of the hospital for the work of the unit, Graham, who is a current leukaemia patient as well as a past president of Tavistock Rotary Club, also paid tribute to the support received from Tavistock residents and businesses.

He said: ‘This is a tremendous amount of money to be raised by such a small community. As well as the wonderful rotary contribution, Tavistock people sponsored the skydive that Julie Williams and I did recently.’

Julie and Graham presented Adrian with a cheque for £1,300 which will go towards future PDLF projects to benefit local leukaemia patients being treated at Derriford.