A £1.6 million fundraising appeal in Worcestershire has appointed a new woman in charge.

Nicky Langford has been appointed as fundraising officer for the Rory the Robot Appeal in Worcestershire.

Ms Langford, who has 34 years’ experience in the executive offices of the county’s NHS, will be driving the fundraising of the £1.6 million appeal for a state of the art surgical robot to treat prostate cancer patients in Worcestershire.

The appeal has committed to raising £130,000 a year for the next five years to support the running cost.

Having been set the target of raising £1 million in the next two years, Ms Langford is now working alongside the Rory the Robot committee to raise funds through donations, events, trusts and other community awareness initiatives.

“The Rory the Robot appeal has been gathering momentum for a while now,” she said.

"I am joining at a key and exciting time, because the community and NHS interest in Rory and prostate cancer in Worcestershire is higher than it has ever been before.”

Ian Jukes, chairman of the Rory the Robot appeal, said: “Nicky’s expertise will be invaluable to take us forward to the next stage of the appeal.

" We have big targets to reach, but are motivated by Rory the Robot’s ability to increase the positive outcomes in our county: in Worcestershire alone there are 2,500 men surviving prostate cancer at any one time, with about 500 new prostate cancer cases diagnosed every year.”

To support the fundraising for the Rory the Robot appeal, contact Nicky Langford on 01905 768954.

To make a donation to the Rory the Robot appeal, visit rorytherobot.com or text RORY97 plus £amount to 70070.

You can also tweet @RorytheRobot