JANUARY sees us three-quarters of the way through our appeal for Springhill Hospice.

And our new year wish is that you still have lots of minutes to spare.

As 2008 drew to a close, the barometer was nudging £35,000.

As generous donations from our friends at Rotary Club of Rochdale East and Rochdale Boroughwide Housing still have to go through the books, we’re optimistic that the true figure is much closer to £40,000.

That leaves us another £10,000 to find over the coming months in the campaign, which will pay for two of the three-bed in-patient bays to be refurbished at the hospice.

And, of course, we’ve still got a major event up our sleeve, the Rochdale Observer fun run.

The event is on Wednesday 8 April and we’re hoping that all 300 places will be taken up very soon.

To register your place, complete the entry form in this Saturday's Observer (3 January) and send it to race organiser Andy O’Sullivan enclosing your £7 registration fee (£5 for club runners) and a stamped addressed envelope.

Andy will then be in touch with all the details and sponsorship forms will also be forwarded from Springhill Hospice.

All money raised will go towards the Observer’s ‘Can You Spare A Minute?’ appeal and we ask that everyone taking part raises a minimum sponsorship of £25.

Certificates will be awarded to everyone and there’s a special reward for the runner who raises the most.

We are hoping to make this race a spectacular success to end our year-long fund-raising on a high note.

But we can only do this with YOUR help so please get involved!