A HAMPSHIRE charity has been presented with the money received through a massive cash boost from government coffers.

The Haven in Titchfield, which provides personalised care programmes for breast cancer sufferers, will get £150,000 – from George Osborne’s so-called ‘tampon tax’.

The chancellor had pledged to give proceeds from the 5 per cent tax from sanitary products to women’s charities.

However, the plan was heavily criticised and led to a petition signed by 300,000 to scrap tax on sanitary products altogether.

Since then the EU has agreed the exemption, and as a temporary measure the government has handed a total of £2.65m to the Haven nationwide, including £2.5m for a new centre in Solihull.

Along with highlighting the government cash, Fareham MP Suella Fernandes visited the centre to present money she raised by completing last October’s Great South Run.

She said: “I’m a great supporter of the Haven and all the work they do. It was a privilege to be able to present them with the money I raised, and I’d like to thank again everyone who sponsored me for doing that.

“I’m also very pleased that the chancellor has allocated some of the proceeds from VAT on sanitary products to the Haven. It’s good news that the so-called ‘tampon tax’ is now being abolished, but in the meantime the money couldn’t be going to a better cause.”

The Haven’s CEO, Pamela Healy, OBE said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the Chancellor’s substantial donation which is a huge boost to that expansion programme as it is helping our newest Haven in Wessex establish itself. Words cannot express how delighted we are that the government has recognised the importance of our work. Thank you, thank you and thank you again.”

The Haven in Titchfield officially opened in October following a mammoth fundraising drive. The campaign saw tea parties staged in Southampton Docks and even pantomime stars supporting the effort.

The Wessex Haven in Titchfield provides vital therapies and counselling to 3,000 women from the South hit by the disease.

Based in a newly converted Grade II listed building in The Square it is the Haven’s fourth specialist centre opened in the country and will serve women living in the Wessex region.

With Wessex having one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the UK, the new centre will provide vital and completely free one-to-one support without the need for a 150-mile round trip to the Haven’s London centre.

The Georgian property has been transformed by local building firm Three Valley Construction and The Echo backed a fundraising campaign to help meet refurbishment costs.