York's newest hotel has laid its cards on the table - and pledged to back our Hospice Appeal.

The Monk Bar Hotel holds its grand opening on Thursday with a Casino Night.

And punters who lose their hard-earned cash at the tables can take solace from the fact that all proceeds will go to our St Leonard's Hospice Millennium Appeal.

Hotel director Colin Gardner said they were happy to take a gamble on the appeal.

He said: "We are now York's largest independent hotel, and we wanted to organise a special evening to celebrate.

"As corporate patrons of St Leonard's Hospice, we decided to hold it in aid of the Millennium Appeal."

Cash raised on the evening will be added to the £500,000 already in the bank.

The Evening Press and the hospice are confident that the momentum from the first phase of fundraising will carry us through to our goal of £2 million by the Millennium - but only with readers' continued support.

The hospice's finance and fundraising manager Karen Russell said: "We are extremely grateful to Valerie and Colin for thinking of our appeal at their official opening.

"It is great when organisations and companies combine their own events with helping us meet our £2 million target."

The plans for the new-look hospice will be unveiled by the Archbishop of York on May 10.

They will include more beds, so that more seriously ill people from the York-area can receive specialist care, an improved day care centre, and better accommodation for visiting families and children.

There will also be a new outpatients clinic and an education and training centre.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.