WHEN turning the big four-o, most of us can look forward to being showered with lots of lovely gifts.

But this was not the case for Mandy Stirling from Wolfscastle County Hotel.

When she recently celebrated her big birthday she asked her 140 party guests not to give presents, but to make a donation to her chosen charities, one of them being Breathing Matters.

Breathing Matters supports Mandy's god-daughter Belle Curran who suffers from a rare lung disease, and any donations help fund research being carried out at the Royal Brompton and Great Ormond Street Hospitals.

Last Saturday (March 5) Dr Theresia Mikolash visited Wolfscastle to receive the cheque from Mandy and Belle.

Dr Mikolash said: “Our aim is to support the research work to find better ways to diagnose and treat rare lung diseases such as Interstitial Lung Disease.

“Breathing Matters also encourages patients, their families and friends to become actively involved to raise awareness of these little known diseases and to fundraise to support our research efforts.”

Mandy thanked all of her party guests for giving so generously at her party.

Donations of £1,100 were given to Breathing Matters, plus £400 each for Shalom House and Amani Children’s Home in Tanzania.

Mandy said: “The hotel will continue to raise money over the coming years in the hope that better treatment or a cure can be found so that Belle, as well as others, can live out a normal life and not be dependent on medication.”