A SURPRISE gift of more than £100,000 left in a will has helped friends of Kidderminster Hospital ride out a stock market slump.

The cash legacy is more than the usual annual total of bequests on its own. But added to others this year, it has given the League of Friends of Kidderminster Hospitals a total of £159,000 in bequests.

Treasurer Bob Whittington says in his annual report that the Friends had finished the year £13,000 ahead of last year, despite a fall in its investments of £31,000.

"The legacy just came out of the blue," he said. "Normally, we get around £90,000 a year that people have left us. We have to try and spend it in a way we think they would have wanted.

"As far as the stock market is concerned, we have suffered the same as everyone but our investments have picked up a little since the end of the financial year."

The £105,000 was left by Mrs Joan Brown, who is named in the report to the annual meeting to be held on Friday, June 13, at 8pm at the Post Graduate Medical Centre at Kidderminster Hospital.

Chairman David Wase says in his report it has been a "difficult and frustrating" year for the Friends. The group had been trying to create relationships with "the providers of healthcare services on the Bewdley Road site in order to establish its own future role."

The report says £105,000 had been spent on buying health equipment but Mr Wase apologises to some departments for having to wait for items on their "wish list" while the Friends waited to see what was required for the new Diagnostic and Treatment Centre.