A PEMBROKE pub has donated more than £2,200 to the Elly’s Flag Ward 10 charity, from change collected in a bottle.

Elly, the daughter of Lyn and Ann Neville of Pembroke, has been raising valuable funds the refurbishment and upgrade of Ward 10 cancer ward through her prize-winning collage of the Pembrokeshire Flag.

The fundraising campaign marked its first birthday earlier this month.

Young Elly, a Pembroke Dock Community School pupil, was recently asked to come along to The Hope Inn in Pembroke’s East End to count a bottle of money raised for the Ward 10 appeal.

This was no ordinary bottle; it was started in 2007 by Howard John and his wife Jenny, who used to run the pub.

Howard said: "It was started because everyone is touched by cancer and Ward 10 does so much to help.”

The Hope Inn is now run by their son, Dai Samuel.

The huge bottle, thankfully made of plastic, had to be cut open by Dai with a small electric circular saw.

Elly’s dad, Lyn said: “Luckily on hand were three lovely ladies from Barclays Bank in Pembroke; Helen, Marie and Rachel to help count the money, complete with money bags and weighing machines.

“At one point we had 10 people counting and there was money everywhere. The counting took nearly two hours with Dai keeping everyone topped up with drinks and fish and chips.

“When it was all added up we waited for the Barclays Bank ladies to give us a total and we had the amazing total of £2,243.13, we were all a bit astonished.

“We would like on behalf of Elly's Ward 10 Appeal to thank Dai, Howard, Jenny and all the very kind and generous customers of The Hope Inn over the last nine years.”