Pitt donates $1m to cancer ward

Hollywood actor Brad Pitt and his siblings have donated $1m (£612,000) to help open a new paediatric cancer centre in the US.

The ward will be named after their mother in honour of her passion for children's issues.

The money was given to St John's Hospital in Springfield, Missouri - the town where Pitt and his brother and sister grew up.

The Jane Pitt Pediatric Cancer Center is expected to open this summer.

The donation will pay to hire the only paediatric oncologist and haematologist in the south-west Missouri region.

Dr Sami Khoshyomn said: "This certainly is a significant milestone in the history of children's healthcare services in our region."

Pitt, star of Benjamin Button, is well known for his charitable work and has helped to rehouse some of the people affected by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Last year, the actor and his partner Angelina Jolie donated $1m to help children affected by the war in Iraq.

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