A £25,000 donation has been made towards ground-breaking breast cancer research at the University of the West of England.

Lesley Joseph, who starred as Myra in Hot Flush at The Bristol Hippodrome, handed over the cash on behalf of Hallmark Cards as part of its annual 'Cards for a Cure' campaign for Mother's Day.

In its fourth year, 'Cards for a Cure' has donated £1 million to Breast Cancer Campaign's UK-wide research projects and Action Breast Cancer, a programme of the Irish Cancer Society, since 2007.

Ms Joseph, who performed at the theatre for one night only, met psychologist Geeta Patel from the university's Centre for Appearance Research to receive the donation.

Research will look into black Caribbean and South Asian women's experiences of breast cancer, and their reaction to breast cancer diagnosis.

Ms Joseph said: "It is a real honour to be involved in such a worthwhile campaign and to lend my support to the pioneering research at the university."