WORKERS at a major Oxford employer have pledged to raise more than £100,000 to help develop the Oxford Cancer Centre.

Cash already raised by staff at Amey — based on the Oxford Science Park — has been used to fund a rooftop garden at the new centre and help buy equipment to improve keyhole surgery techniques.

A total of 30 staff at the company, which manages roads, railways and schools on behalf of local and national government, kicked off the drive by raising £5,000 from a 100ft abseil down the side of the women’s centre at the JR Hospital.

Every pound raised was matched by the company, taking the running total to £10,000.

The new cancer centre at the Churchill Hospital in Headington opened in March. It has 217 beds and 10 new operating theatres.

Extra equipment was provided by a £2m fundraising campaign and includes computer-integrated theatres, which enable surgeons to carry out complex keyhole surgery.

Director of fundraising for the Oxfordshire NHS Trust, Alice Hahn Gosling, said: “All this will be here for patients for years to come.”

Amey employs more than 500 people in the city.