A BEREAVED councillor hopes to raise enough cash to build a summerhouse at the hospice where his wife was cared for.

And a festive fundraiser has helped to kick off the appeal in style.

Councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Conservative group at Bradford Council, lost his wife of 33 years, Vivienne, to cancer in early October.

Now he hopes to raise money for a new summerhouse at Oxenhope's Manorlands hospice as a thank-you for the "excellent care" they gave her in the last few weeks of her life.

Cllr Miller (Worth Valley) said the summerhouse would give patients at the Sue Ryder hospice a valuable opportunity to enjoy the views while being sheltered from the elements.

He said: "Manorlands does an exceptional service to the local community and with the excellent care they gave my wife, Vivienne, in the last few weeks of her life, I thought it was fitting to try to do something both in my wife's memory and that would benefit future patients of Manorlands.

"With this in mind, I and a very close friend, Nikki Carroll, have decided to fundraise to build a summerhouse.

"This is in the early stages but the generosity of individuals and local businesses to date has been fantastic, and I hope to be able to report more later."

One of the first fundraisers was held this weekend, with a local smallholding being transformed into a festive winter wonderland.

On Saturday, people flocked to Street Head Farm in Oldfield, near Keighley, to enjoy a host of festive treats and stalls.

About 35 children got to meet Father Christmas in his grotto - a barn decked out with twinkling lights, holly, straw and drapes.

The event raised about £300 for Cllr Miller's fundraising drive.

One of the organisers, Alison Widdup, said it was a very worthy cause.

She said: "To me, Manorlands is a special place. I lost both my parents there, within eight weeks of each other two years ago.

"They were fantastic to me and I know Glen has said the same about how they were with Vivienne, so it's an important place.

"Yes, it's where people go to die, but it's a respectful place, if you will, and there is a lot of love in there. I think that's really important."