VOLUNTEERS are looking to raise £35,000 to equip a new doctor’s surgery in the heart of the Lake District.

The Patients' Community Health Fund charity is well on its way to achieving that target having already raised £15,000.

The charity was set by the Members of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) to provide state-of-the-art equipment and furnishing for a new surgery to open at Bragg Field in Hawkshead. The money will also provide financial assistance for its doctors and health practitioners.

A few years ago the GP’s surgery in Hawkshead was under threat because of a lack of patients due to the high number of holiday cottages in the village.

The practice was amalgamated with Ambleside surgery to create a new Central Lakes Medical Group. It secured a future for a practice in Hawkshead as well as Grasmere and Ambleside.

Maria Whitehead, trustee of the charity and PPG member, said: “The doctors in the surgery have been brilliant. Instead of just telling the patients to travel to Windermere, Ambleside or even Ulverston, they have really fought to keep it going.”

The whole community has got behind the project with pupils from Hawkshead and Esthwaite Primary School entering a competition for their artwork to be put up in the surgery.

The judges had such difficulty choosing a winner, that as many pictures as possible will decorate the waiting room.

The Patient Participation Group is appealing for offers of auction items or raffle prizes from those who have made use of the doctor’s surgery and know how vital it is for the community.

The fundraising continues with Hawkshead Show in August and an auction of promises and a raffle once the new surgery is completed later this year.

The auction items already donated include a signed book from Mary Berry and a signed shirt from Dylan Hartley, captain of the England rugby union team.

Anyone wanting to donate raffle prizes or auction items or request a money collection box should contact Maria Whitehead at Maria@hawksheadrelish.com.