Sport promoter Barry Hearn has helped lift the spirits of hospice patients with a new drinks trolley.

When Barry, who managed six time snooker champion Steve Davis, heard the well celebrated mobile pub at Saint Francis Hospice, Broxhill Road, Havering-atte-Bower needed an upgrade he stepped in to replace it.

Barry said: “I am very happy to be able to do it. The drinks trolley is a small thing that can add a bit of sunshine to a patient’s day.

“It is also very much in keeping with the hospice which provides such great care and enables people to pass with dignity.

“My mother-in-law loved being able to have a drink when she was at the hospice as it was such a treat.”

Beryl Scott, 71, of Romford, who has been a ward volunteer for the past five years and brings the trolley around to patients one or two times a week, was delighted with the upgrade.

She said: “This trolley is magnificent as it holds such a wide selection of drinks.

“A replacement was well overdue as the old trolley was about 20-years-old.

“The patients and visitors really love it when they see me coming around with it and I think it is a great advert of how special the hospice is.”

Barry also visited the hospice on Tuesday last week to host its Business Alliance Group meeting, which gives local businesses the chance to network as well as discuss ways of supporting the charity.

The next Business Alliance Group meeting will be held on Thursday June 30.

To find out more about the hospice go to sfh.org.uk