PLASTIC tops from milk bottles are helping to raise the final £1million for the Margaret Kerr Unit at the Borders General Hospital.
Recycling company C K Polymers at Charlesfield on the outskirts of St Boswells chip the tops and turn them into sheathing for fibre optic cables.
And with the help of Callum’s Trust and volunteers such as Rotarians they have passed the 2.5tonne mark – that’s around 1,400,000 bottle tops.
Next week the company will present a cheque for £500 to the palliative care unit appeal.
Last week the board of NHS Borders gave the green light for the construction of the £4.2million facility and awarded the building contract to BAM Construction.
Work, due to last for 40 weeks, is scheduled to start in April on the unit which will have eight en-suite bedrooms, each with direct access for patients and their families to a landscaped garden.
NHS Borders will have full responsibility for the running costs of The Margaret Kerr Unit.
Funding of more than £3million has already been secured and the major fundraising campaign to come up with the balance has, in less than three months, raised over £70,000.