FUNDRAISERS across the county are working tirelessly to bring in some last minute funds for a new cancer centre.

The Colchester Hospital Charity is raising £3.25 million to build a state of the art cancer centre on site at the Turner Road hospital.

The Mogul Restaurant in Manningtree held a charity dinner with 100 guests, which raised £2,653, and John Ashworth and the Wivenhoe Committee held two Indonesian lunches this month, which both raised more than £1,000.

The Wivenhoe Committee is holding another event, called Sea Shanties, with the Motley Crew in the Black Buoy tomorrow from 2pm until 5pm.

Campaigners will benefit from Tiptree Jam’s Little Scarlett Festival which takes place tomorrow.

Cancer survivor Mary Parfitt from the Tiptree Group will be there with a stand and information about the campaign.

The Tiptree Committee raised £1,858 at their Strawberry Tea on July 2 and an extra £2,560 was raised at a Rock ‘n’ Roll night on June 17.

Peter Clements, who is part of the West Mersea Fundraising Committee, is holding performances of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ in his garden on August 17 and 18 - contact peter@peterclements40.plus.com for tickets.

A barbecue ball was also held at the West Street Vineyard, in Coggeshall, organised by Janet Hobbs and Julie Trueman.

Julie Standen, from the Coggeshall Committee, said: “Janet and Julie organised the event to do something positive following the death of Janet’s father from cancer and Julie who also had a diagnosis of cancer.

“On arrival at the Vineyard everyone was greeted by a wonderful live singer, and a sea of colour.” Janet wanted to raise funds for the Cancer Centre Campaign and Julie for ‘Od- yssey’, a charity that helps people find their true selves again after receiving treatment for cancer.

Caroline Bates, head of Fundraising at CoHoC said: “We have since heard from Janet who has told us her evening raised £6,000 for the Cancer Centre Campaign from a combination of ticket sales, a tombola and an auction.

"We are incredibly grateful for everyone’s generosity.”

Washing cars also raised more than £300 for the campaign.

Hunnaball Family Funeral Group, which has 12 branches across Essex and Suffolk, chose CoHoC's cause for their charity of the year.

Staff from the memorials team and the company's own First Response team were responsible for getting cars squeaky clean at their Colchester offices in Old Coach House Road.

Melanie Hunnaball, company director, said: “I'd say nearly everyone who lives in north east Essex and the Suffolk borders will have had first-hand experience of the services provided by Colchester Hospital.

“The Cancer Centre campaign relies on the community's support to raise money to enhance facilities and improve patient care.

"The NHS cannot fund all the projects needed to continue the development of the hospital so it's up to us to get behind fundraising for the campaign.

“We're delighted to be supporting this very worthy charity and plan a host of special events over the coming months.”