DORSET County Hospital has received a 'significant' donation' thanks to a popular sunflower trail which took place near Dorchester last summer.
Organisers of The Dorset Sunflower Trail at the foot of Maiden Castle Farm have given £6,350 to the hospital's Kingfisher ward.
This is the second year the trail has supported the hospital - in 2021, the event helped raise £25,000 for the special care baby unit.
The trail was organised by the farm’s Hazel and Richard Hoskin in aid of Kingfisher ward and also the Cherkasy Hospital in war-torn Ukraine.
Hazel’s son Thomas was born three months early and treated at the special care baby unit.
Thousands of people visited the farm for the sunflower trail in August during the heatwave to help raise the impressive son for the Dorchester hospital.
Phil Wylie, a paediatric consultant at DCH, collected the donation on behalf of the Ukrainian hospital having had a long-running association with the town.
Money will be used to send medical supplies to several hospitals following requests from local doctors for items which are in short supply during the Russian invasion.
A total of £6,350 has been sent to each of the hospitals to help carry out their vital work.
Hazel said: "To create a different effect in 2022 we planted Linseed on the field above the sunflowers which gave the appearance of a huge Ukrainian flag of blue and yellow.
"Although the hot and dry weather meant that the sunflowers didn’t grow as tall as last year, on the upside it did mean that our visitors had an amazing view of the Dorset landscape.
"We want to thank everyone who came to see the Dorset Sunflower Trail and supported the event which made all the hard work well worth it.”
The Sunflower Trail was also supported by Dorchester Town Council (DTC) which ran a ‘Summer of Sunflowers’ - a series of related fundraising and awareness activities across town.
Simon Pearson, Head of Charity at DCH, added: “We are so grateful to Hazel and her family for all their hard work in organising this event for a second year, and to the town council for their extra support.
“We know that the Kingfisher team will use the money raised for important projects on the ward.
“This significant contribution will make a real difference to the experience of our patients and their families.
“We also want to thank everyone who went to see the sunflowers and made this major fundraiser such a success.”
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