Dorset County Hospital's Cancer Appeal has reached £400,000- but the target is £1.75m

But the Dorchester hospital still needs a strong showing of support from the local community as it seeks to raise £1.75m to help improve the lives of cancer patients.

The Dorset Echo-backed appeal was only launched at the end of April and has already raised £400,000 with donations from organisations such as the Fortuneswell Cancer Trust as well as from individuals.

A special thermometer, sponsored by the Echo, has now been unveiled outside the hospital to keep supporters and the local community up to date on how fundraising efforts are going.

Hospital chief executive Patricia Miller said that the support from members of the public so far had been great.

She said: “It’s marvellous, we couldn’t do it without the support of some of our local charities and the population, it’s fantastic to get that support behind us.”

The project is being developed in partnership with Poole Hospital, which will provide radiotherapy equipment in Dorchester so patients in north, south and west Dorset have access to services locally.

Funds raised by the appeal will go towards a new outpatients department that will be built on the top of the radiotherapy building and the reconfiguring of the existing chemotherapy suite so family members and friends will be able to sit with patients during treatment.

Mrs Miller said at present some patients were actually refusing to have radiotherapy because they did not want to have to travel to Poole.

She said: “It’s going to make a massive difference.”

Mayor of Dorchester Tim Harries attended the unveiling of the fundraising thermometer and said he was confident the people of the county town would get behind the fundraising effort.

He said: “I’m sure we will all pull together and do our very best.

“It’s excellent news not just for the local community but for the wider community of west Dorset and the surrounding area.”

Director of fundraising for the Dorset County Hospital Charity Andrew House said among those who had donated were people who had read about the fundraising campaign in the Echo.

He said: “We have now raised more than £400,000, partly due to people who read the Echo.”

Mr House said the The next major fundraising initiative was the Walk for Wards event on Sunday, July 3 at Lodmoor Country Park in Weymouth.

The event sees walkers take on a 5km sponsored walk to raise funds for the ward of their choice or they can choose to donate to the hospital’s Cancer Appeal For more information call 01305 253215 or visit dchft.nhs.uk/charity