PROUD family and friends of a much loved Barrow dad have thanked the community for raising more than £30,000 in his memory in just five months for the vital work of the hospice that cared for him.

Richard Thorne, known to all as Fud, passed away in April, aged 38, after a brave battle with bowl cancer. His loved ones are eternally grateful for the care, comfort and dignity provided by St Mary's Hospice to him in the last 30 days of his life, and also the support received by his family.

The Fudstock festival - which had been Mr Thorne's dream - raised £18,000 at the start of September at Cavendish Park, Barrow Island. Fud's Army have just presented the £18,000 to the Ulverston hospice. More than £1,670 had been raised at Mr Thorne's funeral and was donated to the hospice. Now Fud's Army have also raised £10,000 in sponsorship through the St Mary's Hospice Walk to Remember. His dad, John Thorne,has also raised more than £500 by cycling the Tour de Furness.

Mr Thorne was the proud dad to Reuben,10. Jo Firth, one of his four siblings, said the target had been to raise £15,000 plus in 12months. She said: "Fud was at St Mary's Hospice for 30 day, it costs just under £1,000 a day in care. We set ourselves a target of repaying for his wonderful care. We have now raised over £30,000 in just five months. It's incredible and that is down to the generosity of the community coming together for Fud. For one person to bring a community together and raise this amount of money, we are overwhelmed by it all, it's such as legacy for him.

"The work they do here is amazing, we can't imagine what those last 30 days would have been without them. It's vital and we want to help pay for future patients. It's a lovely environment, a patient's wish is their wish and they have dignity."

Mr John Thorne said: "Having experienced the amazing work of St Mary's Hospice we can't stress enough how important it is, and how important it is for us to help fund it. It's an essential service. We don't know where we have been without the hospice, they are all made for the job, they are lovely people. It makes us feel humble that so many people loved Fud and want to raise money in his memory."

It costs more than £2.8 million a year to run St Mary’s Hospice and just 22 per cent of the funding is from the NHS. Clare Tonkin of St Mary's Hospice said: "For a group of people like Fud's family and friends put their time and effort into this fundraising on our behalf, it is invaluable. It 's people like them who are the lifeblood of the hospice. It's an extraordinary donation and there is still more funds to come."