A CANCER survivor held a vegetable plant sale on Saturday to thank St Luke’s Hospice for all their support.

Winsford gardener Hilary Malam, who hosted the event at home with husband John, said: “St Luke’s is close to our hearts. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last summer and I was fortunate enough to have complementary therapies to aid my recovery.”

“For a long time I thought St Luke’s was only for end of life care but it offers so much more.”

The couple had grown a forest of tomato plants and gave them away to members of the community for them to grow at home in return for a donation.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

People queued up to buy the plants

John said: “We had about 500 veg plants, most grown by us, together with some donated by friends. By 10am a small queue had formed and we watched from a distance as the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, courgettes and aubergines were taken away to be grown in local gardens.

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“One visitor collected plants for herself and a neighbour and another has texted to say we have helped save his tomato season.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

John and Hilary gave their tomato plants away to local gardeners in return for a donation to St Luke's Hospice

"We had a surprise when asked how much the garden gnome was. It was there as a table decoration as it carried a sign saying ‘Welcome’. The gnome has now been successfully rehomed in return for a donation to St Luke’s.

“By the end of the day, we’d completely sold out and had raised a fantastic £711.20 for St Luke’s.”

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