Two women who inspired their home town to go pink for a week to raise £25,000 for the Frimley Park Hospital Breast Care Appeal were praised by the hospital’s charity.

Paint Fleet Pink Week last month was instigated by local residents Kim Knight and Sally Herman. They enlisted local businesses, community groups, friends and neighbours to lay on a series of events around the town to raise funds for the Frimley Park Hospital Breast Care Appeal.

Kim and Sally were invited to Frimley Park Hospital so clinicians and fundraisers could pay tribute to their efforts. Breast surgeons, fundraising committee members and chief executive Sir Andrew Morris all expressed their gratitude.

Fundraising manager Sally McLaren said: “I think we are all in awe of these amazing ladies who through sheer determination and hard work made the whole thing such a huge success. It surpassed all expectations.

“We are tremendously grateful to them, but also to the whole of the Fleet community who joined in the Pink week events with such generosity and enthusiasm.”

Kim and Sally were presented with flowers and souvenir gifts from the events. The amazing total from Paint Fleet Pink week brought the overall sum raised for the appeal to almost £600,000. It means that the final target of raising £750,000 to provide a dedicated breast care unit at Frimley Park, including the latest diagnostic equipment that will detect cancers earlier, is within sight. If reached, the trust has pledge to match fund the final sum for a £1.5m project.

The focus of the Paint Fleet Pink week was the Fleet fashion show on Tuesday 13 October. It was organised by Emma Molyneux, or Experience boutique, and Jenny Atherton, of Fuse Projects, and was compered by BBC presenter Sonali Shah. It included collections from local businesses such as Experience, Tilly Mint Weddings, Beverley Edmondson Millinery, 217 Menswear and KJM Salons.

Kim and Sally had the idea of expanding the scope of the fundraising around the show to include a series of other events including:

• A launch event on 10 October with choirs and family activities
• A pink salsa night at El Castello restaurant
• Bollywood night at WE Restaurant, including live dancing.
• A sewing bee by Sew Busy at Elvetham Heath Primary School (featuring May Martin from the BBC’s Great British Sewing Bee)
• A performance by ‘Ladies in Red’ at All Saints Church Hall

Many other shops and businesses got into the spirit of the week with themed window displays and the trees along Fleet Road were decorated with pink ribbons and balloons.