A COUPLE who set up a charity in memory of their teenage daughter were given £15,000 by a hotel.

Neil and Angela Dickson, from Dogmersfield, set up The Brain Tumour Charity after their daughter, Samantha, died of a brain tumour in 1996, aged just 16.

Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, in Dogmersfield, pledged to fundraise for the charity last year, through an annual fun run, which also generates money for the Terry Fox Foundation, set up in memory of a 22-year-old Canadian teenager, Terry Fox, who died of bone cancer.

Four Seasons Hotels, which is a Canadian founded company, has supported the foundation since Terry died in June 1981.

The hotel presented a cheque of £15,175.94 to Mr and Mrs Dickson for The Brain Tumour Charity.

Mr Dickson said: “The support we have had from the Four Seasons has been truly wonderful and we are grateful to be a part of such a massive worldwide charity event. Having lost Samantha to a brain tumour, we know first-hand just how important the funds raised at these types of annual events are.”

Louise Taylor, director of fundraising and communications for The Brain Tumour Charity, added: “Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of children and the under 40s and survival rates have not improved over the last 40 years.

“We are leading the way in changing this, fighting brain tumours on all fronts by funding world-class research as well as offering support and information.

“We receive no Government funding and rely 100 per cent on voluntary donations. It’s only through the help of our fundraisers we can continue our work to change these shocking statistics and bring hope to the thousands of people who are diagnosed with a brain tumour every year.”

This year’s Terry Fox 5km run will take place in the grounds of the hotel on October 5.