THE total raised by late York charity champion Dawn Watts has topped £45,000 following a celebration of her life.

Dawn, of Copmanthorpe, died in November, aged 53, after losing a courageous five-year battle against cancer.

At that time, the former York Hospital A&E nurse had raised more than £37,500 for charities, including York Against Cancer and St Leonard’s Hospice, since throwing herself into a fundraising drive, following a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2013.

Dawn, who was a finalist in the Charity Fundraiser of the year category of the 2016 York Community Pride Awards, was involved in a range of events.

These included several rock gigs called Dawnfest, a sponsored head shave, a skydive and a 100mph zip wire challenge.

Before she died, she said that as her legacy, she would like to raise further funds to help with the running of the hospice, which she described as a ‘fantastic facility’ which enabled patients to enjoy the best possible quality of life.

“Their care also extends to support families and carers and the hospice has been here for me and my family,” she said at the time.

Dawn’s funeral at York Crematorium was restricted to just a small number of her close family members and friends but her husband Stuart said he went on to organise a celebration of her life at the De Grey Rooms in St Leonard’s Place earlier this month.

He said the sell-out event was attended by more than 200 people, and featured a slideshow and a video about Dawn’s life, along with two sets by the band, Pinx Tinker.

“Dawn and I had discussed this and asked the band before she died if they would play for her, having supported us on many other occasions,” he said.

“We had a raffle which had prizes of an approximate value of £1,100, and collected £1,286 on the night through this.

“The overall total raised by Dawn’s activities has now exceeded £45,000 over the last five years for Dreamflight, York Against Cancer, Barnsley Hospice, and St Leonard’s Hospice.

“It’s a fantastic achievement and I want to give a big thank you to all who helped support Dawn’s events.

“She was very proud of the fundraising and it gave us both a focus during some difficult times.

“We will be looking to keep Dawn’s legacy alive each April on Dee Day, and I’ll post more on this later.”