THE family of a man struck by cancer has handed over nearly £1,000 raised in his memory to the Kemp Hospice Appeal.

Debbie Newton said it was what her husband John - who lost his battle with throat cancer in 1997 - would have wanted.

The year before he died Mr Newton, described by a friend as a "kid at heart", had enjoyed a holiday at Disneyworld in the United States.

The money was originally intended to give a family in a similar situation a break together.

But friends and family of Mr Newton have now decided to help the appeal in aid of the hospice's move to bigger and better premises in Mason Road, Kidderminster.

"It's definitely what he would have wanted - something to benefit somebody else," said Mrs Newton, of Manor Road, Stourport.

Mr Newton, who died aged just 37, did not use Kemp Hospice but refused to give in to his illness.

And his experience has led his wife to follow the appeal's progress in the Shuttle/Times & News.

"John wouldn't give up - he fought the cancer to the end. He was a determined person who wanted to live," said Mrs Newton, 37.

Ken Whetton organised raising the £3,000 which enabled Mr and Mrs Newton and their daughter Hannah, now 11, to spend the surprise fortnight in Florida.

He said: "John was a giant of a man, the original gentle giant. He was a big, big softy."

The £920 donated to Kemp came from well-wishers' contributions following Mr Newton's death and fundraising.

Mr Whetton, 56, suggested giving it to Kemp after he was one of the Stourport Wednesday trustees who elected to give £35,000 - proceeds from the sale of the disbanded football club's ground - to the appeal a year ago.