TWO executives from Darlington Building Society have raised more than £9,000 to help Shelter's work with homeless children.

Chief executive Peter Rowley and his colleague David Dodd ran in the 2003 Flora London Marathon, their first attempt at the distance, both finishing in under four hours.

The Building Societies Association assembled a 66-member team of runners for the event, but Mr Rowley was the only chief executive involved.

He presented £8,968 - the first instalment of the team's fundraising effort - to Denise Rooney, manager of Shelter's North Yorkshire Housing Advice Centre.

He said: "David Dodd and I were proud to run under the Darlington Building Society banner and we would both like to express our gratitude to everyone who pledged their support".