TWO BROTHERS from Petersfield say they are upset and bewildered after a hospital appeal they helped raise more than £16.5m for has been shut down – without being told why.

Jeremy and Martin Holmes have held fundraising markets in Petersfield for more than 30 years for the Rocky Appeal, funding the latest state-of-the-art computer-run surgical equipment for Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham.

But the Rocky Appeal, run by volunteer Mick Lyons of Horndean, has been shut down by the Portsmouth Hospitals Trust Charity without a word to either him or the Holmes brothers, who are also volunteers.

Jeremy said: “No-one from the trust has spoken to us about this, and we don’t really know what’s going on.

“It seems some elements in the hospital want the Rocky Appeal shut down but we don’t know why.

“Our markets have raised tens of thousands of pounds for the appeal, which has raised millions of pounds for equipment like a Da Vinci robot that carries out extremely accurate keyhole surgery.

“The Rocky Appeal is a known brand name and we have continued using it and don’t understand why the trust wants to abandon it. People recognise the name – they even ask me in the street when the next ‘Rocky’ market is.”

Mick, aged 77 of Maple Tree Avenue, also said no-one from the hospital’s new salaried fundraising team had contacted him to explain why the appeal was being sidelined, or even if he and the Holmes were still needed as fundraisers.

The former policeman said: “It’s a new fundraising team – I’ve heard of Hazel Cowper but neither she nor anyone on her team has contacted me about anything.

“The Rocky Appeal was all ready to take on the next fundraising challenge, a cancer research and innovation centre. I’ve ordered logos and publicity but no-one has told me officially what’s going on, not in a meeting, by email, in person, or over the phone.”

The trust’s head of charity Hazel Cowper has twice contacted the Post to complain about fundraisers using ‘Rocky Appeal’ in our stories and demanding retractions from us. We have asked why the appeal is closed, and whether the fundraisers had been informed, but no reply has been received.

Ms Cowper, who was appointed in June, was reminded by the Post last Friday to provide a Rocky Appeal position statement for this edition of the Post.

Yesterday a hospital spokesman contacted us to say Ms Cowper and her immediate boss were on sick leave. The spokesman said she would try to get a statement – but her phone rang unanswered for the rest of the day.

Mr Lyons, awarded the British Empire Medal for his fundraising, said any money raised, including from the latest charity market in Petersfield, would go to the hospital.