MEMBERS of the Co-operative funeral care have visited the University of Bradford to present over £700 to its Plastic Surgery Burns and Research Unit.

The money was raised at the annual Bradford City Fire Memorial service, with proceeds from the order of service programme.

The Co-operative funeral care provides the programme free of charge, but this year gave people the option of giving a voluntary contribution for the unit based at the university and set up in the aftermath of the fire.

Tony Vogel, Funeral Director at Co-op Funeralcare said: “We were overwhelmed at how generous people were. We have been providing the Order of Service for the memorial service for many years. In 2016 whilst handing them out many of the supporters were asking how much they cost and were surprised that they were free and were clearly prepared to donate money. With this in mind, we thought that this year we could do a bucket collection for the Burns Unit whilst handing out the programmes.

"People could still have an Order of Service free of charge if they wished. We were overwhelmed by how generous people were. The support of the Burns Unit and the incredible work it does is clearly something that means a lot to the people of Bradford. It is hoped that we may continue this collection in the coming years.”

Mr Ajay L Mahajan, Director of Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit said “Year after year, the people of Bradford have supported our research unit. Last year saw a significant surge in fundraising activity for our unit. This has made the future of our unit secure for some time to come, but it very reassuring to see the fundraising activity continue after the 30th anniversary.

"This will help fund our day to day activities at the research unit. We are very grateful to Tony and his colleagues for doing this for us and look forward to an ongoing relation with them."