Charity's hospital fundraising helped by 'huge impact' of legacies

The £1.5m League of Friends gift has helped fund a robotic surgery robot for the hospital

Legacies have had a "huge impact" on the fundraising work of the a hospital charity, fundraisers have said.

Money left by people in their wills has enabled the League of Friends to buy vital equipment this year for Musgrove Park Hospital, including a £1.5m robotic surgery console.

"Legacies have been so important to us," said treasurer, Hilary Corcoran.

"We are enormously grateful to people who think about the hospital when they prepare their wills," she said.

'Benefiting patients'

Ms Corcoran told the charity's annual meeting that the past year had been a highly successful one for fundraising.

"Certainly we would not have been able to invest in state of the art robotic surgery had it not been for legacies.

"Decisions made by people decades ago help us today.

"And surgeons at the hospital tell us that is greatly benefiting patients in several different surgical disciplines," she added.

The money has funded a da Vinci surgical system which enables doctors to perform more intricate, less invasive operations.

Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset, surgeon Richard Bamford said: "The biggest single donation that the League of Friends has ever given to Musgrove was the £1.5m to help purchase a surgical robot and the program is going from strength to strength."

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The League of Friends shop within Musgrove Park Hospital is staffed by volunteers

Chairman Peter Renshaw told the meeting that the great work by its dedicated band of volunteers was enabling the charity to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The League of Friends shop within the hospital has also managed to increase its sales, despite a shortage of volunteers.

Last year the turnover was more than £350,000, with all the profits going to the charity.

"We would not have been able to fund the robotic surgery had it not been for somebody 30 years ago leaving money in their will to the League of Friends," said Mr Renshaw.

"Everyone involved in the League of Friends is a volunteer and they work tirelessly to raise funds," said President Chris Cutting.

The League is always looking for new volunteers, especially in the hospital shop, even to give just a few hours a week.