AN appeal has gone out to readers to help boost the Marie Curie fund-raising campaign this Christmas.

THE Gazette and Marie Curie Cancer Care campaign to improve the nursing care in Ealing was launched earlier this year to raise cash to boost nursing hours. Around £170,000 was set for this year but a new target of £167,000 has recently been set for next year. There are currently nine Marie Curie nurses in Ealing who last year provided 5,342 hours of free nursing care to 96 terminally ill patients in their own home.

Claire Moss, Community Fundraising Manager, is appealing to people to be as generous as possible, particularly at this time of year. She said: “For a lot of people the festive season is about spending time with your loved ones and every year Marie Curie nurses make this possible for terminally ill people across Ealing and the rest of the UK.  All our care is completely free for patients and their families but it costs the charity £20 to provide.  Please consider making a donation to the Ealing Marie Curie Nurse Appeal, however big or small, to help more terminally ill people spend time with their families this Christmas.”

The campaign was spearheaded by local Marie Curie nurse Olive Hoare who has spoken about what Christmas has meant to some of her patients. She said: "Some people somehow have the will power to survive until after Christmas and others plan their presents in advance. One devout Ealing lady was insistent that her son and daughter-in-law went to Midnight Mass but they didn't want to leave her. Finally she persuaded them and as soon as they left she asked me to help her wrap their presents to put under the tree.

"We form such a rapport with patients. I am there to hold a hand, laugh or cry. I was once asked to do a reading at a funeral of a man I had met only once. People do ask me how I can do this day in and day out. I don't know where I get the strength from, but I do. You know that just by being there you are helping and that's all that matters."

To make a donation or find out details of fund-raising events and how to apply log on to: www.mariecurie.org.uk/ealingnurseappeal.