A NEW bladder scanner will soon be available at Great Western Hospital thanks to a generous donation from the Walcot Community Shop.

After a customer told of the fundraising efforts by charity Brighter Futures, the shop acted quickly to release whatever money was needed to help.

The charity gave £2,500 and after a generous donation of £4,500 from the Dr Thomas Cranston Wilson Trust and other donations, only £320 was needed to reach the £9,000 target .

Chairman of the shop Peter Mallinson said: “I phoned and asked what they needed and originally they still needed a few thousand to reach the target.

“We wanted to help so I said I would speak to the directors and organise the money. Once we had been given the go-ahead I phoned back up but they only needed £320.

“Straight away, I got on my computer and sent them the money.”

Paul added: “We want to be able to help people at a moment's notice.

“We run a tight ship when it comes to finances and that’s what allows us to do things like this.”

Lisa Utting, the donor development manager at Brighter Futures, said: “The fundraising went quite quickly.

“The whole department was behind the cause and all of the staff did fundraising, which really helped.

“We received a call from the store to say that they would support us.

“With the money we already had, Walcot finished the appeal – it’s amazing. It only felt like two minutes.

“It’s absolutely fantastic that we received the support from the community, and we’re delighted that the shop helped us out and realised the difference it could make.”

After the donation, Lisa continued speaking to Peter and she is hoping to develop the relationship between the two charities.

Lisa said: “We have considered opening up our own charity shop similar to his in Walcot.

“Peter has been amazing on giving us advice and he’s been helping me put together a business plan that we are looking to present in the future.

“His expertise is very welcome and I hope we can continue to develop this relationship.”

GWH already has bladder scanners but the new piece of kit will be designated to the urology department and will be used on patients who show symptoms of enlarged prostates and cancer.