IF you are looking for a new home for unwanted Christmas gifts and wondering what to do, why not drop them off at one of the charity shops for St Catherine's Hospice, Preston, where they can be sold to raise money for the good cause.

As a specialist centre providing medical and nursing care for terminally ill people, St Cath's in Lostock Lane, Lostock Hall, has helped thousands of patients and their families in the Preston, Chorley and South Ribble areas.

But to provide and maintain a high quality of free care the charity has to find 75 per cent of its running costs each year.

While the NHS provide the remaining cash, the hospice relies on charitable donations and fund-raising for more than £1.6million each year, that's equivalent to £3 a minute for each day.

An army of dedicated volunteers help out at the hospice's charity shops in Preston and Leyland -- including their furniture shop, in Walker Street -- and fund-raising comes from a variety of means.

But like many charities, St Cath's needs all the money it can get in order to continue its good work in the community.

Hospice appeals manager John Nickson said: "The whole ethos of hospice care is to provide an environment where people can live their lives to the full whatever time they have left.

"All care is provided entirely free and is given irrespective of race, gender, age or religious belief."

Since opening in 1985, it has offered emotional, social and spiritual support for patients with incurable illnesses.

Patients attend the hospice for pain relief, respite care or to be looked after during their last few days or weeks after referral from their GP or hospital consultant.

Usually patients are suffering from terminal cancer but sometimes they have other life-threatening conditions such as motor neurone disease and multiple sclerosis.

And despite popular belief, the hospice does not just cater for older people. It provides care for people in the their late teens upwards with many patients aged under 50.

To make donations to the hospice or to find out more about fund-raising for the charity, contact John on 324540.