A FLOWER festival has donated £6,200 to a hospice

The festival, in Stanborough Park Church,Watford, was held last year but half of its takings has been given to the Peace Hospice.

The donation is enough to fund an in-patient bed for 11 days.

Gemma Shortman, the Hospice’s community fundraiser, said: “Everyone was astounded by how much had been raised, it’s a lot of money and is really going to help.

“The hospice provides more than just a room, it gives patients privacy with their families, peace in their last days of life and one-to-one care with nurses.

“The hospice also runs a bereavement team, a 24/7 Hospice at home team for those with life-limiting illnesses and the Starlight Centre.

“These services need £4million a year to keep running and as there is a lot of competition with other charities, we couldn’t do what we do without members of the community.”

The flower festival was held last July at the Stanborough Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Garston to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the building of the church.

The event was organised by Audrey Balderstone and her committee of five experienced flower arrangers and raised a stupendous sum of £12,000 overall.

The other half of the money was donated to the church to help pay off the debt incurred as a result of its recent extension and refurbishment.

Pastor Jacques Venter, the church’s Senior Minister, thanked the members of the congregation for their generosity in supporting the event.

He also expressed his thanks to Audrey Balderstone and her committee for the hours of hard work they had put in to make the event what it was.

For more information about the Peace Hospice, visit: https://www.peacehospicecare.org.uk