THE Torpoint branch of the Friends of Derriford Kidney Unit, are grateful to the many businesses and individuals in South East Cornwall and Plymouth for their support and generosity in fundraising for the Friends of Derriford Hospital Kidney Unit.

During the seven years of its existence, the charity has raised over £120,000 for the purchase of medical equipment for the unit, as well as providing facilities and little extras to make a patient's stay in the kidney unit more comfortable.

Now that the highly successful kidney transplant unit at Derriford Hospital is threatened with closure, the Friends are worried that their efforts may prove fruitless.

If this disastrous plan goes ahead, patients from Devon and Cornwall will have to travel to Bristol for surgery and follow-ups.

The reason given for this proposal is that the population of Devon and Cornwall is too small to warrant such a specialist facility.

'If we accept this as a valid reason for stripping the Westcountry of its valuable health facilities', says the branch's appeals secretary Rowe, who has been campaigning for six years to help raise funds for the unit, 'the same reasons could be used to close other specialist departments, thus affecting everybody in the two counties.'

You can help the Friends fight a successful campaign against these proposals by signing and supporting their petition. For details of where the petition is available for signing, please phone Nicola on 01752 815077 or the chairman Sue Sellis on 01822 612153.