A DEDICATED hospital supporter called it a day after a lifetime of fundraising but she says her departure is tinged with sadness.

Gwen Timmins said a fond farewell to friends and colleagues at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital on April 18 after many years of running a charity stall in the hospital's foyer to raise cash for the pain relief unit.

Mrs Timmins, who was awarded the MBE in 2007 for her fundraising, raised in excess of £100,000 for the unit over more than a decade but at the age of 73 she has now finally called it a day.

Sister Karen Simpson and Dr Victor Gnanadurai were among the hospital staff who attended a farewell bash for Gwen, from Kingswinford, who had been running the weekly gift and tombola stall at Russells Hall since 2003 to help raise money to give something back to the unit where she was being treated for arthritis and fibromyalgia.

Previously she and fellow patients ran a charity stall at the old Corbett Hospital in Stourbridge before pain relief services transferred to Dudley.

She says she would do it all again given her time again as feels immensely proud to have raised so much for the hospital trust but she says her departure from fundraising for Russells Hall is bittersweet as she was upset to learn remaining funds in the pot, up to about £25,000, had been spent without her knowledge.

Gwen said previously hospital chiefs would always ask what she would like to see the money spent on and it was in the past used to buy various vital pieces of equipment but on this occasion she was simply told what they had been put towards.

She said: "They never came to ask me. I've enjoyed working in the hospital and meeting people but this has left a bitter taste in my mouth. I've been treated very badly."

Diana Wake, new chief executive at the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said the money had been spent on equipment and furniture - "in particular on comfortable high-backed chairs in theatre waiting areas".

She said Gwen had agreed in 2013 that funds raised could be managed by the Dudley Group NHS Charity as "she no longer wanted the administrative burden and costs associated with fundraising" and "Gwen agreed in writing that the money would be spent at the trust’s discretion to benefit patients that required pain relief".

She added: "We always comply with our donors’ wishes, and let them know how the money is spent if they wish to know. Our charity is administered in line with Charity Commission protocols.

"We would like to thank Gwen for all her fabulous fundraising efforts over the years which have greatly benefited patients being treated at Russells Hall Hospital. We wish her all the very best in her retirement."