A CHARITY launched by a former motorsport champion in memory of his late wife has donated £15,000 worth of medical equipment to a hospice.

Colin Seeley, a British road racing sidecar winner in 1962, raised the money through the Joan Seeley Pain Relief Memorial Trust, which was set up following his wife's death from bone cancer in 1979.

The cash has paid for specialist equipment for the Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice.

This includes syringe drivers to administer pain-relieving therapies, oxygen concentrators to support patients with breathing difficulties and a hoist to allow nurses to move frail patients safely.

Mr Seeley, aged 75, of White Oak Gardens, Sidcup, said: “Like many people, I have friends who have benefited from the specialist care provided by Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice and I know from my own experience how important expert care at the end of life is.

“I’m fortunate thanks to my success in the motorcycle industry to be able to give back to my community - I’m delighted to be able to support my local hospice in this way.”

The money was raised thanks to donations from the motorcycling world.

Since the trust was set up to fund equipment for chronic pain relief, a total of £100,000 has been donated to the hospice in Abbey Wood.

The hospice's chief executive, Kate Heaps, said: “We are enormously grateful to Colin for his ongoing support.

“As a charity, we receive just one third of our funding from the NHS leaving a balance of more than £4m to raise each year.

“We simply would not be able to provide the high standard of care we do without the ongoing support of Colin and others like him.”