SPECTATORS at Kendal Torchlight Carnival gave buckets of support to Rosemere Cancer Foundation, as volunteers walking alongside the charity's float collected £418.42.

Among those collecting was Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, a long-time campaigner for improved cancer services.

Local fundraising coordinator Julie Hesmondhalgh said: “I’d like to thank all our volunteers and everyone who donated for such a wonderful show of support, with special thanks to volunteer Liz Nelson for designing our float.”

Rosemere funds cutting-edge equipment, research, cancer services and therapies the NHS is unable to afford.

The charity recently gave £40,000 for a sophisticated exercise bike to the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which manages Westmorland General Hospital in Kendal, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Barrow's Furness General Hospital.

The bicycle is used for pre-operative health testing (CPEX) and it will be located at Lancaster, meaning greatly reduced journey times for poorly patients who previously had to travel from south Cumbria to Blackpool for such tests.