OKEHAMPTON and District Lions Club recently made a donation of more than £3,000 to the town's medical centre, enabling important equipment to be purchased.

Staff have bought a defibrillator, a portable heart resuscitation machine for heart attack victims, and an ambulatory blood pressure monitor, which enables a patient to have their blood pressure monitored over a 24-hour period to get a true reading.

Some £1,296 of this cheque was donated to the Lions from the proceeds of the late Brian Barkwell's memorial service held at All Saints Church in September.

Brian was a co-founder of the Lions Club in Okehampton 39 years ago.

He had been a stalwart member throughout that time and was a keen supporter of Lions International and in particular of all local causes.

It was felt by his family that this was a contribution he would have wanted to make.

The family expressed thanks to all who so generously gave at his service and Okehampton Lions Club have paid tribute to the Barkwell family for making this gesture.