TODAY, The Evening Star is over the moon thanks to a group of over 60s.

TODAY, The Evening Star is over the moon thanks to a group of over 60s.

The Ipswich Hatfield Congregational Church Friendship Club has put a smile on our faces by boosting our Lifesaver appeal.

The appeal is raising £22,000 for a cardiac ultrasound machine for Ipswich Hospital's accident and emergency department.

And today we are £125 closer to the target thanks to the club and its fundraisers.

The 35 members of the group raised the money over Christmas, by an internal post box, a raffle and a collection at their carol service.

Audrey Silburn has been running the club for 22 years.

She said: “We try and help a different charity every year and we saw this in the paper.

“We think this is a vital piece of equipment needed at the hospital and wanted to help.

“Because we are an ageing group we are more likely to be among those having heart attacks and that sort of illness, and it could help any one of us in the future.”

The club has been running for 35 years, and has a different speaker each week.

The ultrasound machine quickly helps doctors diagnose acute cardiac conditions, including heart failure, and is expected to help around 1,000 people every year. The state-of-the-art machine can also do other ultrasound scans besides those for the heart.

Currently, the hospital relies on older technology such as x-rays. It has other ultrasound machines in the radiology department but often A&E patients need a scan immediately and the new machine will be on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Weblink:

www.eveningstar.co.uk/lifesaver

n To support the appeal, send a cheque made out to Lifesaver: Evening Star Appeal, to 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 1AN. You can also donate online.

Shoppers at East of England Co-operative Society stores can help by using the special dividend number 977.