GENEROUS newlyweds have raised more than £1,000 for a hospice by asking for donations instead of wedding gifts.

Vinnie and Liz Marsh, from Leigh, raised a grand total of £1,285 when they tied the knot in August by asking their guests to bring a donation for Wigan and Leigh Hospice instead of a gift.

The couple married at the Greyhound Hotel on the East Lancs Road in Leigh on Saturday, August 23, in front of 97 family members and friends.

Vinnie said: “We just asked everybody if they could donate a little something instead of buying a wedding present – we’ve been together for 19 years and we don’t need anything.

“We decided to help the hospice because Liz’s sister Eileen died in the Hospice when it was in Poolstock and they took such good care of her in there.

“My auntie Renee died in the hospice too in 2011.”

The newlyweds met in 1995 and Vinnie proposed in October 2013 after their children and grandchildren repeatedly told them they should wed.

Vinnie said: “The grandchildren were always asking ‘why don’t you get married?’ and our children asked too because we all get on so well so I said to Liz we were getting a bit long in the tooth and we’d better get married.

“We had a fantastic time, the food and the staff at the Greyhound were wonderful, and afterwards everybody told us what a lovely day it was.”

The couple have just returned from a honeymoon in Costa Brava.