A CHARITY that has raised more than £330,000 has celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Members of Teesdale Cancer Research UK held a celebration meal to mark three decades of raising money.

Among the two dozen volunteers at the Fox and Hounds in Cotherstone, there were four founder members - Maureen Bainbridge, Brenda Thwaites, Vera Carter and Colette Jackson.

Mrs Bainbridge and Mrs Thwaites, who are still serving on the committee, were presented with flowers and commemorative pins by Lindsay Kay, Cancer Research UK's community fundraiser, in recognition of their service. The group started fundraising in November 1974, following a Women's Institute Members' Night in Cotherstone.

Mrs Thwaites said: "We repeated the event for our husbands, who paid to come and see it. Then we had a coffee morning, but didn't know what to do with the proceeds we were accruing."

Cancer Research was suggested and the group was launched. It was initially known as the North of England Cancer Research Committee.

Ms Kay presented the group with a framed cheque for £336,788.14, the total it has raised over the past 30 years.

This year, the group has raised £30,350.91.