TWIN brothers celebrating their 40th birthday gave The Press Guardian Angels Appeal a huge boost by asking for donations at their party instead of presents.

Gary and David Barker, of Acomb, York, threw a birthday bash for 120 friends and family at Holgate Working Men's Club when they turned 40 last month.

But the brothers did not want any presents - all they wanted was to help raise £300,000 for a new life-saving high-dependency unit for children at York Hospital.

Today, they handed over a cheque for £600 - pushing our appeal very close to the £220,000 barrier.

Gary, a yard manager at Howarth Timber, said: "We both have children.

"I have got three and David's got one, and if they were seriously ill and had to go to Leeds because York didn't have the facilities, it would make the situation so much worse.

"We have read the stories in The Press about the children who have needed high-dependency treatment and we just wanted to do something to help. It would be brilliant if York had better facilities for children."

The Press Guardian Angels appeal was launched in October 2005 and aims to fund two high-dependency rooms with new, specialised equipment.

It will mean many more youngsters can be treated in York rather than having to be transferred further afield, to cities like Leeds.

The unit's patients could be suffering from illnesses including meningitis, severe asthma, bronchiolitis, convulsions or coma and physical injury.

If you are holding a charity event, let us know about it and we can publicise it in The Press, to make sure as many people as possible support your efforts. Phone Nicola Fifield on 01904 653051 or email nicola.fifield@ycp.co.uk