THE seeds of fund-raising ideas at a county garden centre have blossomed into a fruitful £16,000 for St Richard's Hospice.

Staff and customers at Webbs of Wychbold have raised the cash over the last 18 months for the hospice, which is the company's adopted charity.

Among the fund-raising initiatives was the sale of the Precious Memories Rose which was named in a Webbs competition, a visit to Prince Charles' home Highgrove and the creation of a garden calendar which attracted hundreds of photographic entries.

Other fund-raising activities included raffles, donations from visitors to Webbs' Riverside Gardens, and staff gifts at Christmas.

Executive chairman Ed Webb said: "We've been delighted with the response from staff and customers."

St Richard's Hospice director of fund-raising Marilyn Peachey said: "This is a wonderfully generous gift from everyone at Webbs and will help us continue to care for patients and their families locally."

St Richard's is based in Rose Hill, Worcester, and offers free services to patients with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses and their families.

A new £5.25m hospice is due to open in Spetchley in the autumn and will include all the current free services, plus specialist hospice beds which are desperately needed but not available in our area."