We are one trot closer to securing a Hog for our Hospice thanks to your generosity.

Today the campaign has nearly made £2,000 just five days after the launch – including one £500 donation from a grateful patient.

Our aim is to raise £5,000 to buy ‘Dr Trott and Nurse Honey-Cured’ for St Elizabeth Hospice to keep as a lasting legacy to its ground-breaking Pigs Gone Wild project.

It will also be a way to say a massive thank you to the charity which brought the 40 piggy sculptures to Ipswich, helping to make it one of the town’s most successful summers to date.

Norman Lloyd, Pigs Gone Wild project manager, said: “We’re delighted that more than £1,000 has already been raised by readers and supporters for the Hog for our Hospice campaign.

“The messages of support that people have left with their donations are really heartwarming and it’s so nice to see how much they enjoyed the trail and now want to give something back to the hospice to say thank you for organising it.

“Please keep the donations coming so we can keep Dr Trott and Nurse Honey-Cured for our patients, families, staff and volunteers to enjoy for years to come.”

Terry Hunt, EADT editor, said: “We’re delighted to have burst through the £1,000 barrier, and people are being very generous. But there’s still a long way to go, so we’re asking everyone to help this really worthy cause.”

Dr Trott and Nurse Honey Cured was brought in mid-way through the trail to temporarily replace Major Henry Wigglesworth at Giles’ Circus. When the battle-ready pig returned, Dr Trott and Nurse Honey Cured took pride of place in the entrance lobby at St Elizabeth Hospice, Foxhall Road.

All of the pigs will go on auction on September 22. If we raise £5,000 through the Hog for Our Hospice campaign, Dr Trott will be spared the auctioneer’s hammer and can stay at the hospice to be enjoyed by staff, patients and their families. The money will be added to that raised from the sale of the other 39 pigs and enable St Elizabeth Hospice to continue its invaluable work with patients from east Suffolk.

To make a donation log onto giving.stelizabethhospice.org.uk/hogforhospice