A CHARITABLE organisation has raised £4,500 to help the Great North Air Ambulance and £1,515 to CRY which helps raise awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death Syndrome.

Derwentside Rotary Club presented the cheques to representatives of the two charities at a meeting at Beamish Hall Hotel earlier this month.

The larger cheque represents money raised from a charity abseil from Gateshead's Hilton Hotel.

Members of the Rotary club, their friends and family joined Steven Jefferson, the father of nine-year old Christopher, whose life was saved after being airlifted by the Great North Air Ambulance, after being crushed under a quarter-ton metal gate in Stanley.

Mr Jefferson said: “It's great to be able to give something back and say thank you to the crew of the air ambulance.”

CRY, or Cardiac Risk in the Young, aims to raise awareness of sudden cardiac death syndrome, which current research suggests is affecting 12 people aged under 35 years old a week.

Jeff Morland, whose son Levon died at the age of 22 from one of the little known conditions that cause sudden death in young people, could not emphasise enough the importance of the Rotary Club's donation.

He said: “Every penny will be used to support CRY's campaign to raise greater awareness of the problem that is claiming 12 young lives every week in the UK and to provide heart screening to detect conditions and have them treated before tragedy strikes.”