Tea party's boost for Hartlepool cancer patients

Rita Taylor, Coun Audrey Laing, organiser Julia Errington and chief fire officer Stuart Errington.

The tea and cakes fundraiser for the chemotherapy unit at the University Hospital of Hartlepool was held at Peterlee Fire Station in memory of local councillor Audrey Laing’s husband Jim, who was treated in the unit before he sadly passed away last year.

The party, organised by Julia Errington at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, helped raise more than £2,300.

Julia said: “I am delighted with the amount we raised at the afternoon tea - our fire service family all worked together to make it such a success.

“It is nice to know that the money will go to the cancer unit to provide much needed support people in our area.”

Rita Taylor, a non-executive director at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the unit, said: “It was a pleasure to be able to attend such a fantastic event for a very worthy cause.”