A care home was inspired to raise money for the Watford Observer’s appeal to help buy new cots for a maternity ward.

Meresworth, in Rickmansworth, raised £111 by holding a car boot sale to support Watford General Hospital’s plea for donations.

Healthcare assistant Jackie Fitzsimons wants to raise £18,000 by next June to help kit Katherine Ward out with a fleet of new cots.

She has teamed up with the Watford Observer and so far, several people and companies have come forward to help.

Debby Abrey, the activities coordinator at Meresworth, said: “This kind of campaign affects everyone – we actually have a few members of staff due to give birth at the hospital.

“We read about it in the Watford Observer and saw it on Facebook and decided we had to do something.

“It’s the kind of thing that brings everyone together. Everyone here is talking about it.”

The car boot sale was held in Chorleywood and they sold items donated by the wife of a former resident, who recently passed away.

They put up a sign outside the stand explaining what they were raising money for, and it proved a huge talking point.

Since then, many of the care home’s residents have donated items they no longer want in the hopes they can hold another sale in the future.

Mrs Abrey, who has three children and five grandchildren, added: “It just goes to show how important a campaign like this is.

“We are proud to support the cot appeal and we’d love to eventually raise money to buy a whole cot, so we’ll keep at it over the next year.

“We’re proud to support this.”