A RETIRED motor engineer has got his petrol head on to devise an ingenious fundraising initiative for a hospital vehicle.

Being president of Witney Rotary Club this year gave Ashley Farmer the chance to revive his interest in mechanics and help raise cash for a new patient vehicle for Witney Community Hospital.

Using his knowledge of cars built up in more than 20 years working at the Mini plant in Cowley, the 71-year-old from Carterton divided the hypothetical new vehicle up into different parts that people can sponsor to make the fundraising effort seem more achievable.

The amounts ranged from £2,000 for the bodywork down to £50 for a tyre.

The Rotary Club has raised about £6,000 towards the new £40,000 vehicle, which will be added to the £8,000 already raised by the hospital League of Friends.

Mr Farmer said: “The reason I wanted to help Witney Community Hospital is because Ann Milnes, the wife of one of our members John Milnes, had an extremely serious stroke recently but she had superb care in Witney and in Oxford.

“The club has never done anything much for the community hospital and I thought it would be great to give a little bit back.

“We asked them what we could do and they said the vehicle is the thing they need the most.”

The vehicle is used every day of the week for transporting many elderly people to and from hospital including stroke patients. It can take wheelchairs and is driven by a hospital nurse.

In the period from January to July this year, a total of 214 journeys were made to locations throughout Oxfordshire with the majority being within the Witney area.

But the current vehicle is 13 years old and has become unreliable and needs replacing.

The hospital League of Friends has been doing all it can to raise cash but Mr Farmer’s input has added extra impetus to the campaign.

Mr Farmer said: “It’s a very, very well-used vehicle. My background is in the motor industry so I thought it might be something we could help them with.”

The Rotary Club has raised £6,250 since July from the sponsorship scheme and other bucket collections and events.

Mr Farmer said he was confident the vehicle would be in place by the time he handed over to his successor next year.

The next step is to decide on the specification of the replacement vehicle. Next week two potential candidates will be shown at the hospital for the staff to decide what is required, and therefore the cost.

Mr Farmer said the fundraising would then be “moved up a gear”.

* Donations can be made by calling Mr Farmer on 01993 842 430 or by emailing ashleyfarmer@btinternet.com