FORMER patient has joined forces with her local Rotary Club President to raise money for the hospital ward that looked after her.

Fiona Mann, of Addingham, who suffered a spinal stroke in June 2013, has been fundraising for ward 5 at Airedale Hospital over the past nine months, including a mile long sponsored swim and a fundraising stall during the Yorkshire Tour de France, and has raised £2,426.35.

Fiona Mann said: "The staff on the unit made such a difference to me when I suffered my stroke but there are so many pieces of equipment that are not classed as essential so the team have to fundraise for them.

"Once I began to get back on my feet, I knew I wanted to be able to help the unit support people like me in the best way they could so I pledged to myself that I would fundraise for the unit as my way to say thank you for the support they had given me."

Alongside her, new President of the Rotary Club of Ilkley, Dawn Emsley, has chosen the stroke unit as one of her nominated charities during her presidential year and hopes to raise as much as possible for the ward with the help of her fellow Rotarians.

Dawn Emsley said: “Fiona's story struck a chord with me and so I decided that when I became president, I would nominate the stroke unit at Airedale Hospital as one of my nominated charities and continue the good work Fiona has started.”

She hopes to be able to raise money for the ward at a number of events over the next twelve months, including the recent annual Christmas Holly Ball, which Fiona founded as the Rotaract (young Rotary) Christmas Ball back in the late 1980s and was involved in organising until recently.

Linda Lawrence, sister on ward 5 at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are very grateful to both Fiona and Dawn for supporting the unit in this way.

"It is particularly pleasing when one of the fundraisers is a former patient as that really does mean something special to the staff here. We would like to thank both Fiona and Dawn for supporting the stroke unit and supporting other local people who have suffered a stroke.”