Generous donation to MRI Scanner Appeal

Bishop Auckland Rotary Club has presented £7,000 to the MRI Scanner Appeal being run by County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust's Charity. 

The money was raised on Bishop Auckland Rotary's annual golf day, organised by club sports officer Peter Cooke with support from past president Nigel Bell, attracting well over 18 teams representing local and national businesses.

The golf day raised £6000.00, however through Barclay's £ 4 £ match-funding, a further £1000.00 was raised via the Bank's Bishop Auckland branch. 

Peter Cooke said 'This is the ninth year for our golf day and we've supported many charities but this year the committee chose the MRI appeal because it is a locally based appeal and any one  of us in the club, or in our local areas, could possibly need to have an MRI scan in the future. The day was a great success and we are very pleased with the grand total we've been able to donate to support the appeal. We couldn't have done it without our sponsors and everyone who took part on the day, so thank you to them." 

The MRI Appeal is raising funds to buy two new state-of-the-art MRI Scanners, one for Bishop Auckland Hospital and one for Darlington Memorial Hospital. 

Professor Jerry Murphy, collecting the cheque on behalf of the appeal said: "I'm in awe at the generosity of local people and so grateful to Bishop Auckland Rotary for choosing to support our CDDFT NHS FT charity. The new MRI scanners will provide us with a transformational level of innovation replacing 18 year old machines. In my area of expertise as Senior Consultant Cardiology Surgeon for the Trust the new technology will help with early diagnosis and potentially less invasive surgery for pre and post stroke patients, ultimately helping save lives. I am so grateful for the support received and hope other groups and associations will be inspired to help us too, whatever the amount raised, it will make a big difference to us." 

The appeal will run until December 2018 - anyone interested in supporting the appeal can contact the Charity's development officer Pat Chambers -  pat.chambers1@nhs.net or 0777045565.

Published 3 November 2017