A BREAST cancer charity set up by a Broome woman last year following the death of a close friend has raised a staggering £26,000 so far.

And mother-of-three Veronica Kennedy, 40, hopes her latest money-spinning venture - a charity lunch with florist Carl Wilde, a weekly guest on ITV's This Morning - will help the Midlands Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer Fund hit its target of £33,000.

Mrs Wilde, former chairman of the Ladies Variety Club for Birmingham and surrounding areas, which raises money for wheelchairs and transport, founded the breast cancer charity last June following the death of her friend, Carol Knaggs, from the condition. Veronica Kennedy who has founded a breast cancer charity in memory of a friend.

She said: "Twelve months ago, three of my friends had breast cancer and one of them, Carol, died. She was a fabulous girl, always smiling, and her attitude made me decide to do something."

She said she had raised money for breast cancer before, but money donated to a regional charity had not been used to help people in the area.

And she said if cash was handed over to a hospital she was concerned it would end up being used to pay for administration costs.

The charity, which is run with the help of just nine volunteers, has so far raised £26,000 towards the £33,000 needed to buy a Faxitron, state-of-the-art equipment which enables tumours to be located with pin-point accuracy. The equipment will be presented to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.

Mrs Kennedy, who was chairman of the Ladies Variety Club for five years, until 18 months ago, said she hoped the latest fundraising event would bring in thousands of pounds through ticket sales, a raffle of the gardening guru's flowers and an auction.

She revealed 200 of the 300 places at the event, which includes a champagne reception, a one-hour flower demonstration and lunch, had already been snapped up.

She added: "It is a hell of a lot of money and this is the first large event we've organised. It's all been coffee mornings and lunches until now." She added that money had also been raised by several other groups and donated to Ladies Fighting Breast Cancer Midlands.

Mrs Kennedy said the event would also include the screening of a brief video aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer.

The charity lunch will be held at the Botanical Gardens, Edgbaston, on Monday from 11.30am. Tickets can be obtained by contacting the charity on 01562 701106.