A SPONSORED silence raised almost £1,500 and brought joy to terminally ill patients.

Creative therapist Susie White and nurse Collette Parker spent eight hours dressed as monkeys in the foyer of the Joseph Weld Hospice in Dorchester , after pledging to stay silent.

Mrs White, 54, said: “It’s amazing what people will pay to get us to shut up. We are known as the noisiest pair in the hospice. One of the patients calls us the two naughty ones.”

The friends, who work for the Weldmar Hospicecare Trust, collected £1,400 in donations on the day.

The event was part of the charity’s Go for Gold campaign, which is backed by the Dorset Echo and runs through the summer, to encourage people to raise money by challenging themselves. Mrs Parker, 51, said: “It certainly was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun. People were trying to make us speak all day, but we kept our mouths shut.”

Donations came from staff, patients and visiting families. Mrs Parker said: “We had a great response from people and everyone was so generous. It put a lot of smiles on faces.”

The pair, with adjudicator Simon Grantham, also toured the hospice, visiting patients unable to leave their beds.

Mrs White said: “We overheard one patient, who is receiving end of life care, telling everyone that we had been in to see him. It just couldn’t have been any better.”

The money will help the charity continue to provide countless free services to patients suffering from cancer and other long-term diseases across the county.

The Joseph Weld Hospice is a base for end-of-life care and the charity also has day care facilities.

Other services offer practical and emotional support for relatives, including young children.

Choosing a challenge that is simple can be most effective.

Mrs Parker added: “Our challenge did not cost us anything to do, it was very easy to organise and everyone enjoyed it.”