GLANGWILI Hospital League of Friends has raised �70,000 for vital surgical equipment for the cancer unit.
The group — which last year raised a staggering �106,000 — are also appealing for new members to join them in their work to improve the lives of patients at the county hospital.
League of Friends chairwoman June Beer, 82, has been involved with the group for 40 years.
She said: "It gives me satisfaction. When you volunteer to do something, you are not forced, you chose to do it and to do something to help somebody.
"We desperately need new members and if people only knew the work the league of friends is doing and what we contribute to the hospital, I am sure they would want to help too."
The league was the first in Wales to be established when the NHS was created in 1948.
They have 18 members, with a core who help at the hospital.
The group runs a library book service around the wards and each year they hand out Christmas presents to everyone in the hospital.
Mrs Beer praised league member Ian Williams, who dresses up as Father Christmas and delivers the present to the patient's bedside. She said: "When Ian goes round on Christmas morning, he talks to the patients and they're amazed someone has given up their time.
"He also visits the children in Cilgerran ward and many patients and parents thank us — that's enough for us."
The league takes a tough line when it comes to handing out the money they raise from collections at town supermarkets, book sales, legacies and donations.
One of their conditions is that any money handed to the hospital must be spent within four months.
The league's press officer Aneurin Jones said this means the cash does not get held up by hospital bureaucracy.
"The hospital would be a lot poorer without the league of friends," he said.
"We don't provide the large things but we provide the little extra things, which the consultants need for their work, but they can't afford.
"They've got to come to the meetings and show us why they need it."
The next big event for the league is its summer fair, held at the outpatients department on June 11.
The group meets on the last Monday of each month at 6.30pm in the Cambrian Room of Glangwili Hospital.
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