FRIENDS of Farnham Hospital and Centre for Health has launched a £25,000 appeal to provide new television sets to rooms at Farnham Hospital.

The original TVs in patients’ rooms were provided by the Friends in 2004, who also replaced those analogue sets with digital ones in 2012.

Now the hospital would like to upgrade again to modern sets with stands and headphones.

The estimate for doing this is £300 per room, making a total of about £25,000 to fit out all 84 rooms.

On Saturday, December 11 the Friends launched the appeal at a Christmas Concert led by the Rushmoor ’Odd Fellows’ Male Voice Choir at the Maltings.

The evening also featured songs by Emma Mabin and incorporated an extraordinary range of items including carols and spirituals, together with more recent items from Macartney and Lerner and Lowe as well as audience participation.

The Friends were joined in the launch by Andrew House from Frimley Health Charity, as future donations to support Farnham Hospital should be made to the new ’Farnham Hospital and Community Health Services’ fund within the Frimley Trust family.

George Alford, chair of the Friends of Farnham Hospital, said: "The provision of TV for patients has been a regular activity of the Friends.

"We are most grateful that once again the Rushmoor ’Odd Fellows’ have led the support for Farnham Hospital’s projects.

"It was a most enjoyable evening. This event is also important as the transition takes place from an independent charity, to working within the Frimley Trust family."

Frimley Health Charity director Andrew House added: "We had a wonderful evening with great entertainment with friends and it was wonderful to see the strong community spirit in Farnham to support patients in Farnham Hospital.

"These TVs will help distract and inform patients when they are alone in their rooms especially during these times when visitation is restricted.

"A huge thank you from everyone at Frimley Health Charity for your generous support on Saturday and in the weeks and months to come."

Peter Viveash, chair of Rushmoor ’Odd Fellows’ Male Voice Choir, said: "We were delighted to host the launch of the new campaign for Friends of Farnham Hospital at our Christmas Concert on Saturday.

"It was wonderful to be back singing on stage after two years and supporting such a great cause made it extra special."

To donate to the appeal, see www.frimleyhealthcharity.org and mention ’Farnham’ in the notes section.