A Whitchurch woman is urging new residents in the town to help her keep up the good work of collecting stamps to fight blood cancer.

Janet Proudlove, who owns The Age of Elegance, has been collecting and donating them to Leukaemia Research (LR) for more than two decades.

Last month, she received a letter from Bloodwise – formerly LR – thanking her for her dedication in sending the stamps in, but she hopes as Whitchurch grows as a town, more people continue to donate the stamps.

"I collected the stamps which were all donated by people who come and put them into the bucket or there's some that send them," said Janet.

"I collect them. There used to be an old lady who would come around and collect them but she died.

"I did it from then and now it's been more than 20 years doing it.

"The charity used to be Leukaemia Research but now they're called Bloodwise, and they carry out research into Lymphoedema, which I have, so I wanted to help them.

"It's good that so many people have helped me help them.

"I've even had more people sending their stamps to one of my daughter-in-laws too, so they have always sent them in.

"Whitchurch is expanding with new people and I'm asking them to join in and send us stamps to keep helping; it'll help them become part of the community spirit."

In his letter to Janet, Peter Crowley, Bloodwise Office Services, thanked her for the level of support she gives them.

He said: "We are truly grateful that you continue to support Bloodwise and the work that we do.

"We do not receive any government funding so without the kind support of people like you, we wouldn't be able to continue to fund our life saving research across the UK.

"Please do accept our grateful thanks for everything you do for Bloodwise.

"Our mission is to beat blood cancer. Until that day, we're committed to finding cures, improving diagnosis and care, and developing kinder treatments."