A cheque for £12,000 was presented to Macmillan Cancer Support this week, thanks to the generosity of bereaved families kindly allowing the recycling of orthopaedic implants from Oakley Wood Crematorium.

The metals used in the replacement of knees and hips, as well as pins used in other bone injuries along with the metals from coffins can all be recycled through the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management's recycling of metals scheme.

The money earned from recycling these materials is then gifted to the council, for the chair to allocate to their chosen charity.

Warwick District Council's chair, Cllr Mini Kaur Mangat, along with her consort Susan Rasmussen and staff from Oakley Wood Crematorium presented the cheque to Sarah Chadwick, Macmillan's Relationship Fundraising Manager.

Macmillan was chosen by Cllr Mangat to be one of her supported charities for the year in honour of Susan's late husband Cllr Jonathan Nicholls, who passed away earlier this year.

Jonathan Nicholls was due to become chairman of the council in May 2022, and Macmillan was to be one of his chosen charities.

Cllr Mangat said: "My sincere thanks go to the families who have kindly agreed to the donations at such a difficult time.

"Macmillan was the charity chosen by the late Jonathan Nicholls before his untimely passing and him taking up the role of WDC Chair. I wanted to honour his wishes and I think it shows how much he cared for the community that he chose a charity that gives people in the community so much practical and emotional support.

"I want to say, that I commend his choice and I too very much admire the 'whatever it takes to help' values of Macmillan and the excellent work they do. I was delighted that Jonathan's wife, Cllr Susan Rasmussen joined me to present the cheque to Macmillan."

Macmillan relationship fundraising manager, Sarah Adwick said: "This donation has been made possible thanks to the generosity of the bereaved families who's loved ones were cremated at Oakley Wood, and we are so grateful to them as well as the Chairman of Warwick District Council, for nominating Macmillan to receive the funds.

"Donations such as this mean we can continue to do whatever it takes for people living with cancer, and £12,000 is an incredible amount of money which will go a long way in providing vital support.

"It was a pleasure to meet the Chair today and receive the cheque on behalf of Macmillan. Thank you to Warwick District Council and the selfless bereaved families, for your extremely kind donation."