A DAILY Echo-backed appeal to create a state-of-the-art blood transplant centre has received a £250,000 cash boost.

Southampton Hospital Charity’s Red and White Appeal now stands at £330,689 thanks to the massive donation from The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund.

The appeal, named after red and white blood cells, aims to raise £2.2m to build a pioneering haematology centre for patients with leukaemia and other blood disorders from Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Wiltshire, Dorset, West Sussex and the Channel Islands.

Appeal chairman Richard Brazier said: “We are so thrill-ed to have received such a generous grant from The Kay Kendall Leukaemia Fund.

“This has given the appeal a terrific boost and the total raised now stands at £330,689.

“We’re off to a great start, but we need everyone’s help to make the project a reality, together we can do it.”

Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust has secured £5m from the Department of Health to fund a brand new extension to the hospital to house new beds for haematology patients who need a bone marrow transplant.

The extension will enable the hospital to increase its capacity from 19 to 28 beds as well as build more single rooms with private bathrooms and views to the outside world both for patients and their relatives.

The new day case unit will be built alongside the new inpatient facility, funded by the Department of Health at Southampton General Hospital.

The ground-breaking facility will provide an area for haematology patients to have day case treatments such as chemotherapy, blood transfusions, platelet transfusions and stem cell collections.

It will be a big improvement for patients as the current C3 Hamwic Day Centre is located at the opposite end of the hospital to the haematology inpatient service.

Ring 023 8079 8881 to find out how you can support the Red and White Appeal, backed by the Daily Echo.