STAGE and television personality Matthew Kelly spoke of his delight that our Hospice 2000 Appeal had reached the £1.8m mark.

Matthew, currently starring in the York Theatre Royal production of Kafka's Dick, was at St Leonard's Hospice in York's Tadcaster Road to hand over a £600 cheque to the appeal.

The cash was raised at a fundraising event at the Dean Court Hotel last month in which Matthew took part.

But he and hotel manager David Brooks were taken by surprise, when it was announced that the Evening Press-backed appeal had just received a £95,000 boost. The huge sum came as a legacy from an anonymous York woman, who has supported the hospice since 1982 when she helped fund the original building.

This means the fundraisers are now just £200,000 off their target.

At the hospice, Matthew met with staff and residents, viewed plans for the revamped building and helped place the latest 'petal' on the campaign petalometer.

As his wife is a fundraiser, he said he has seen close up the huge amounts of hard work put in by everyone involved in such an appeal. And he encouraged all the people of York to get involved in the final push to reach the £2m mark.

He said: "I don't want to say too much about the legacy - that is a private matter for the lady in question and the hospice.

"Having seen the work going on at the hospice, which is so vital to the community - a service that could not be obtained anywhere else - I have been moved to contribute myself to the raising of the last £200,000 that is needed."

Updated: 10:46 Saturday, April 07, 2001