A pantomime group has raised £1,000 for cancer patients at Airedale Hospital.

The Addingham Pantomime Group, which has just completed a run of eight performances of Sleeping Beauty, held a collection among the audience at the end of each performance to raise the cash.

The group chose Airedale’s Haematology and Oncology Day Unit (HODU), as their charity this year as some of the members of the group have received treatment there.

Alan Davies, foundation trust governor for Craven, which includes Addingham, received the cheque for £1,000 on the trust’s behalf from Andy Burns, who played Dilbert Pickles following the last performance.

Mr Davies said: “It is great to see how a small village group can provide such an entertaining event for the local community and at the same time be able to support that same community by helping to raise money for local high quality haematology oncology care.”

Pat Dyminski, clinical nurse specialist at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a fantastic donation which will help provide additional patient monitoring equipment to further improve patient care and treatment on the unit.”