A member of a bowling club which champions life-saving heart surgery has made a donation to a special cause.

Bernard Drummond presented a cheque for £1,482 to the Acute Cardiac Unit at Stevenage’s Lister Hospital on Tuesday on behalf of the Zippers Bowling Association.

The organisation is made up of voluntary members who have undergone heart-related surgery, and each year donations amassed are distributed to nominated cardiac units across the country.

The 83-year-old from Trent Close in Stevenage – who himself underwent open heart surgery in 1991 – helped found the association in 1996, and regularly plays with other members on bowling greens up and down the country.

His latest donation to Lister will enable the unit to buy new TVs for rooms where patients require specialist care.

Since the association was formed on the back of an idea by the late Harold Gibson, just under £200,000 has been raised in total.