A total of £30,000 has been raised by the Ledbury Hospital Appeal Fund in under two years.

The appeal was launched in April 2001 with an initial £96 given by the public. Since then there have been close to 100 more donations from local businesses, organisations and individuals.

The latest donation, of £1,500 towards the cost of a Nimbus pressure-relieving mattress, was handed over by Roy Crook, of the Eastnor Masonic Lodge, at a special presentation at the new Community Hospital.

Appeal chairman Spencer Lane said: "It is a staggering sum, £30,000, and every penny will be spent towards the hospital. It is tremendous that so much money has been raised from all sorts of areas."

The Friends of Ledbury Cottage Hospital found the money for one Nimbus mattress.

But Mr Lane said: "The hospital needed a second one, and we couldn't have done it without the support of the Masons."

Notable donations have included £1,633 from veteran marathon runner Terry White, which he raised through sponsorship money after competing in the 2001 Great North Run.

The visit of the Windsor Castle Choir to St Michael and All Angels Church, organised by the then town mayor Phil Bettington in the autumn of 2001, added a further £1,263.

The Bulmers Benevolent Fund gave £2,000 in July 2001, and the William A Cadbury Charitable Trust gave £5,000, in December that year.

The appeal has just committed more than £10,000 for a bedside oxygen system at the hospital, one of the next major improvements at the site.

So far, more than £14,000 has been spent on equipment, including television sets, vital signs monitors, halogen lamps, a dressing trolley, wheelchairs and slings and hoists.