DEDICATED fundraisers for a Basingstoke hospice have been thanked for their contribution by being made vice-patrons for the next year.

The hospice, which is based in Aldermaston Road, Basingstoke, have named 39 of its most supportive fundraisers as vice-patrons for the following year as a way to thank them for their hard work.

And the new vice-patrons were joined by their nearest and dearest, plus staff from the hospice, as they celebrated the occasion with a champagne reception.

Iain Cameron, director of income generation at the hospice, told The Extra: “This is a collection of our most engaged supporters and this actually represents one per cent of our fundraising efforts but delivers 10 per cent of our fundraising income, so these people are fantastic supporters.

“We wanted to recognise them and say thank you for everything they do. A number of people were quite humbled about being recognised. Noone expected it.”

Father-of-one Gordon Sutton was one of the people named as a vice-patron. The 43-yearold, of South View, has raised thousands of pounds for the hospice as his late wife Julie was treated there during her seven-year battle with breast cancer.

He told The Extra: “I am really, really pleased and I am very proud to be part of this. I can’t fault the service. These people, in my opinion, are severely underfunded and under- supported and it is really important to continue to support this because when you are going through it and prospects are bleak, it is extremely difficult to carry on.

“After my wife died, I wanted to give something back to say thank you for their support.”

Another person given the title of vice-patron was Caroline Nash, who has held a number of events to raise funds for the hospice, including a Pimms party and Nashfest.