A COVENTRY businessman who campaigned for a hospice to be built in the city following the death of his first wife has boosted the Coventry Myton Hospice Appeal by #40,000.

John Dixon has handed over money that was raised and put into a charitable fund after his wife Sue died of cancer in 1996.

Mr Dixon, a trustee of Myton Hamlet Hospice and owner of Computime in Earlsdon, believed Sue would have benefited enormously if there had been a hospice in Coventry at the time.

He had hoped to push forward the hospice ideal personally but his crusade hit a stalemate and money raised was mothballed.

Now Mr Dixon is handing over much-needed cash to Myton to help them realise the dream he has pursued for so long.

He said: "They were very good to Sue at Walsgrave during her last days but really she was in the wrong place. A hospital is there to try and make people well, so in a sense we were not part of that."

He said Sue had been offered a place at Myton Hamlet Hospice in Warwick but turned it down because she wanted to stay close to family and friends.

"I have no doubt if there had been a hospice available then in Coventry she would have gone there and been in a more appropriate environment."

Coventry appeal manager, Kate Skinner, said: "This is a wonderful boost to the appeal which now stands at more than #354,000 thanks to the generosity and hard work of the local community and businesses in Coventry.

"We are really grateful to everyone who has helped so far to get to this wonderful total."

The #5 million Coventry Myton Hospice Appeal seeks to raise enough money to build a 20-bed hospice on the Walsgrave Hospital site in Coventry.

* Mr Dixon is pictured with Gill Young, chief executive of Myton Hamlet Hospice. 

* STAFF at the careers advisory service at the University of Warwick raised #45 for the appeal by making donations instead of sending each other Christmas cards.