THOUSANDS of pounds donated by a Basingstoke company have given a fundraising boost to pioneering cancer treatment and training at the town's hospital.

Staff from National Grid Property Ltd, based in Wade Road, have handed over £5,000 to the Pelican Cancer Foundation.

The money will go towards the ongoing training in precision surgery for bowel cancer that has taken place at Basingstoke hospital since the Pelican (Pelvic and Liver Cancer) Foundation was set up in 2000.

The foundation, which is based at The ARK conference centre and costs about £750,000 a year to run, also leads the way in precision surgery for liver tumours.

Chris Beagley, chief executive officer of the foundation, said: "As a charity, we are entirely dependent on the support of the general public and donors in order to allow us to continue with our work.

"Our hope is that the work we do will eventually improve the treatment of bowel cancer for everyone."

National Grid Property Ltd is part of National Grid and looks after its properties across the country.

Jayne Edmondson, secretary to the finance director at the company, said: "We have a health working group within the business, which puts on a programme of educational talks for staff about topics such as exercise or stopping smoking.

"As a result of that, every year the chairman of National Grid runs an award with three categories - safety, health and the environment - so we chose to donate to the Pelican Foundation under this award."

Robin Purves, compliance and technical manager, said: "We wanted to make a difference and support a local charity. Looking at the work by the Pelican Foundation, it seemed a very appropriate choice."

For more information on the charity, visit www.pelicancancer.org

First published: Wednesday, February 15, 2006