Nearly £3000 has been presented to the Children's Intensive Care Unit at the University Hospital, Staffordshire in memory of local schoolgirl Lauren Hughes.

Lauren, a former pupil at John Kyrle High School died at the hospital in May after suffering an asthma attack.

Lauren's family rallied around to organise fundraising events to help the hospital which had cared for Lauren. They organised a Summer Ball in July at Mighty 8 and many local businesses donated raffle prizes. They also sold wristbands in her memory. There are still some wristbands available if anybody wants one and the ball is likely to become an annual event as the family wish to continue helping the hospital.

On Thursday, August 23rd they presented the hospital with a cheque for £1717 which was raised from the ball and the sale of the wristbands. This was in addition to £1253 which Lauren's parents presented to the hospital which came from donations from the funeral. To date the total raised is £2970

Her parents, Pat and Dolly, told the Ross Gazette:?"Lauren's family would like to thank everybody who purchased the wristbands and attended the Summer Ball. A special thanks to Lisa, Louise and Teresa for arranging the ball and to Bev and Karen for the wristbands."

A spokesman for the hospital told the Ross Gazette that the NHS Trust was extremely grateful for such a tremendous amount of money. He said:?"It really will make a difference to patients and the care they receive. This money will help make peoples' stay in hospital more comfortable as it will provide over and above what the NHS provides.

He added that what happened to Lauren and her family was tragic but he thanked them for their generosity and hard work in fundraising.