A dinner being held in memory of one of the youngest women to die of breast cancer will be the icing on the cake of a huge fundraising appeal.

Organisers hope to raise £10,000 at the Sarah McKie grand dinner, at the Bankfield Hotel, Bingley, next Friday.

It will bring fundraisers to the £100,000 they aim to raise in memory of 19-year-old Sarah, of Haworth, who died in June 2001.

The money will go to buy new equipment and improve facilities in the cancer unit at Airedale Hospital, Steeton, where Sarah was treated. Her mother, Anne, 50, who was disabled by a stroke five years ago, has spoken of her delight at how quickly the money has been raised.

She said: "The fundraising has gone remarkably well when you consider that Bradford Council's Lord Mayor's appeal is for cancer as well. People have been very generous. People are very aware of what happened to Sarah, particularly young people. One of the reasons we started the appeal was to make young people more aware of the disease."

Sarah, a former pupil at Oakbank School, Keighley, died less than a year after discovering she had the disease. She had both breasts removed but the disease spread despite treatment. She died in Airedale Hospital after her parents gave permission for a breathing tube to be removed.

Mrs McKie has been travelling around Yorkshire Co-op supermarkets selling raffle tickets for a Fiat Punto, which has been donated by the organisation.

The fundraising appeal was set up in November 2001 by United Co-operatives and Airedale General Hospital.

The money will be used to fund new equipment, including a digital Faxitron system worth over £38,000, microscopic projection facilities and a video conference suite, which will allow cancer experts from around the region to share their experience.

Airedale Hospital's senior cancer surgeon, Ali Najim, said: "The money will go a long way to improving the level and speed of treatment we can offer our cancer patients."

Steven Silver of United Co-operatives, the fund chairman, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the amount of hard work people have put into raising money."

* A garden party in Eastby, near Skipton, which attracted more than 200 guests, raised over £6,300. One family from Skipton bid £1,000 to win a gourmet dinner for ten people cooked in their own home by staff from the Angel Inn, at Hetton, near Skipton.

* United Co-operatives Travel-care, in Bradford and Shipley, donated £185 following a staff and customer day trip to York.

* Jewellers Calders of Ilkley hope to have raised £3,000 by the end of this month.

Tickets for the gala dinner are available by telephoning 01274 763550.