LINGEN Village Hall Committee have presented their donation of £500 to St Michaels Hospice at the May committee meeting. The money was raised at the Christmas dinner dance in December 2015 and match funded by HSBC. The cheque was presented to Ruth Dennison, income generation director at the Hospice, by Mr Phillip Barnett, son of the late Mrs Olwyn Barnett who was a founding member of St Michaels Hospice. Also present were Allan and Angela Lloyd of the Reaching Out for Radnordhire campaign.

Allan Lloyd talked passionately about the role of the hospice and the need to make the public aware of its services, not only in Herefordshire but extending into Radnorshire and in particular the rural areas. It was said that the facilities at the hospice are possibly the best in Europe and 90% of its running costs are donated by the community in both counties. The redevelopment over the last three to five years will be completed in June this year and includes a new in-patient wing but importantly Ruth Dennison pointed out that 56% of inpatients went home, proving the expertise of the pain management and care. Ruth also spoke about the introduction, in February, of a service called Hospice at Home for Herefordshire, which has already proved its need by having 94 referrals when only 30 were expected. They were thanked for their attendance at the meeting and their obvious enthusiasm to provide a service for us the public.