A BIG-HEARTED woman has donated the remaining funds from a defunct spiritualist group’s coffers to help save lives.

The Holland Spiritualist Sanctuary held its last session in December after running weekly meetings for more than 20 years.

At 93, founder and president Millie Millington decided to call it a day.

But she has made sure the group’s legacy lives on by donating the £2,500 left in its account to help keep the Essex Air Ambulance running.

Millie said: “The air ambulance does such a wonderful job and they need so many collections and donations to keep them going.

“It’s sad to have to stop the spiritualist sanctuary after so long, but I’m pleased to be able to do this. It benefits so many people."

In 2009, Millie and the Holland Spiritualist Sanctuary donated £30,000 to the air ambulance.

The group had started raising the money for its own church building, but donated the cash when it became clear the project was impossible.

The remaining money in the group’s account has been collected over the past few years.

Millie decided to donate it to the air ambulance after making the difficult decision that she could no longer run the sanctuary.