PLAYING Scrabble in warzones and the difficulties of living with 40,000 men were just some of the anecdotes one of the BBC's best-known correspondents shared with an audience at a fundraising event at Basingstoke hospital.

More than 150 people turned out to listen to Kate Adie, who retired from front-line reporting in 2003, at The Ark centre - a conference facility at the hospital.

The evening was held to raise money for the North Hampshire Medical Fund - specifically to help with the cost of a special tilt table and task force monitor, which totalled £32,000.

Ms Adie's witty and engaging talk touched on a number of themes, ranging from the unusual way she began her career - with a degree in Swedish and Ancient Icelandic - to the reporting she did from areas of conflict.

She also spoke about her decision to search for her real family, as she was adopted as a baby.

Ms Adie described being a reporter as "a fascinating job" and added: "One of the privileges of broadcasting is to go out and get people to talk, and to understand the complexities of their society."

She described her role reporting during conflicts as "like opening a window to the world".

The cash raised from ticket and book sales during the evening came to more than £10,000, which will be donated to the fund.

Julian Sheffield, chairman of the fund, said: "The medical fund raises money to buy state-of-the-art equipment for the hospital, which the NHS cannot afford.

"If we have good equipment, we can also attract good consultants, which is a huge benefit for patients at the hospital."

Dr Jo Bernstein, a consultant in elderly care and fall specialist at the hospital, applied for the equipment.

She said: "This machine allows us to carry out non-evasive blood pressure and pulse monitoring tests in order to diagnose patients who fall or have dizzy spells."

Several Basingstoke firms, including Penningtons Solicitors, Alan Gibson Limited car dealerships and Eli Lilly, supported the event.

Raffle prizes were donated by Sony, Mulberry, Berry Bros & Rudd wine merchants and Kingfisher Housing Association.