A MALVERN woman has left £12 million in her will to 10 charities, including over £1m to St Michael's Hospice.

Christine Van Gulik (pictured left), who died in November aged 95, lived at Hardwick House, Abbey Road, before moving into Mowbray Rest Home in Victoria Road.

She left an estate valued at £12,136,638 which will be largely distributed between 10 charities, including St Michael's Hospice in Bartestree and the Sunfield Children's Homes in Stourbridge, on an equal basis.

Dorothy Auld, chairman of the Malvern Hills Support Group for St Michael's Hospice, said the bequest was wonderful news.

"I just hope she (Miss Van Gulik) was happy during her life because what she has done will help a lot of people during the worst moments of their lives," she said.

Walter Brooks, chief executive of St Michael's, said it was far and away the largest bequest ever received, the hospice more usually being left sums such as £500, occasionally up to £5,000.

"Our annual running costs are about £1.8 million so you can see what that sort of money means," he said.

"At the end of the day what matters is security for our patients and they need to know the hospice is here to stay, so that money will act as a cushion."

He added that no-one at the Hospice had any connections with Miss Van Gulik.

Born in England in 1905 to Dutch parents, Miss Van Gulik's spent her early life in this country but she was living in Holland at the beginning of the Second World War.

Following the German invasion, after being persuaded by her mother, she caught one of the last boats to leave for England and spent the rest of the war working as a nurse in Bristol.

George Chesterton, of College Grove, a friend of Miss Van Gulik, said he had known her ever since she came to live in Malvern in the late 1940's.

"She fell in love with the hills," he said.

"With only a few minor breaks she spent the rest of her long life in the town. She lived quietly with a small circle of close friends, some of whom were included in a number of very small bequests," he said.

He believed her father was in banking and that his wealth was passed on to his daughter.