A hospital charity which has raised more than £1million has reached its 60th anniversary.

Volunteers for Whipps Cross Hospital League of Friends have provided valuable extra resources for the Leytonstone hospital since its inception in 1954.

Treasurer Valerie Vallis joined the charity in 2001 and helps to organise fundraising boot sales in the hospital car park on the first Saturday of most months.

In the last two years, the league has paid for a £5,000 defibrillator for the Eye Treatment Centre, an ultra-sound ‘fribroscan’ costing £17,500, an electric saw for the outpatients' plaster department and a transport vehicle for the rehabilitation unit in Chingford, among other things.

Mrs Vallis said: "With the help of committee members past and present, and the great support from the public, we have managed to raise over one million pounds.

"The work of our charity has been very important for the hospital, especially with the all the equipment we've bought which has helped staff keep up-to-date with the latest technology.

"We are still able to raise funds, but if we don't get any new volunteers, it will fold," Mrs Vallis warned.

Besides the equipment it helps to buy, the charity is also renowned for its efforts to support elderly patients at Christmas, an effort Mrs Vallis says that is vitally important.

"It is such a joy for the elderly patients to get a lift and let them know they're not forgotten," she said.

The next boot sale will take place on June 7 from 7am until midday in the accident and emergency car park.