MORE than £3k has been raised by Halesowen and Rowley Regis Rotary Club to help patients with COVID-19 who are fighting for their lives at Russells Hall Hospital.

The money has been raised after the rotary club was forced to cancel its annual Black Country Road Run - and asked for sponsors and people who had paid fees to donate the money to its appeal for the Critical Care Unit at the hospital in Dudley.

It has presented a cheque for £3.5k which will be used on specialist support equipment and padding, such as get packs, to help seriously ill patients who are having to lie face down for up to 12 hours at a time.

The popular run, set in Halesowen town centre, was set to take place on July 5.

Rotarian Alan Bowler said: "Following the unfortunate cancellation of this year's Black Country Road Run, our rotary club had great pleasure today in presenting a cheque for £3,500 to the Critical Care Unit at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley.

"Through our discussions with Karen Phillips, Fundraising Manager at Russells Hall, we've been made aware that seriously ill COVID-19 patients are having to lie face down for up to 12 hours at a time and so we're delighted that this funding will now go towards providing specialist support equipment and padding, such as gel packs, to help improve the patient's experience and make them as comfortable as possible.

"We must also thank all those individual runners and some of our corporate sponsors, The Big Pet Store, CSCM IT Solutions and Sandvik, who all very kindly agreed to lend their support to our donation during these unprecedented times."

Refunds were offered to runners who did not wish to donate.

Entry costs £18 for the 10k race, £4 for children and £22 for families taking part in the shorter fun run.