Breathe Easy members from the West Lancashire and Southport group have been in generous mood recently!

This from Pat Ireland: 'Our Breathe Easy group provides information for respiratory patients and their families and carers; acts as a pressure group to obtain appropriate healthcare and other requisite provision; and provides a self-help and friendly social group.

However, we also raise funds which we can use for the good of our local community and in this respect, our group's again spent some of our funds to good effect.

First of all, we have bought some new information boards for use in both Ormskirk and Southport Hospitals. These cost our group in excess of £800 and were made specifically to hold and display the excellent booklets and leaflets produced by the British Lung Foundation for respiratory patients, hospital staff and the general public. These publications are really excellent and are available free for anyone to read or take home. Our boards are situated at Southport Hospital in the Outpatients' Department and also in Respiratory Ward 14b. In Ormskirk where they can be found in Outpatients and also in the Pulmonary Rehab. clinic. Volunteers from our group keep an eye on our boards and keep them filled up so that all the British Lung Foundation publications are available for visitors in both our hospitals - Sister Stephanie Hickling is shown in the Outpatients Department at Southport Hospital.

And members presented a cheque for £792 to Queenscourt towards the cost of provision of home oxygen for 'At Home' patients: it has ten beds for in-patients and also helps many more patients whose wish it is to stay in their own homes. The Hospice also does wonderful work in providing facilities and care for Day patients.

Dr. Karen Groves of Queenscourt Hospice (left) with a colleague (middle) is pictured with Irene Norman, John Kitson - handing over our cheque - and Pat.'