A TOTAL of £5,000 has been raised by the Rotary Club of St Austell for the Cornwall-based international disaster relief charity, ShelterBox.

Through themed fundraising dinners, a night of music and a rainy sponsored family walk, members of the club and the wider community collected money to aid people who have been left without shelter after disaster or conflict.

Club president Elke Deeley said: “As a club we have been raising money for ShelterBox for many years. We plan a variety of fundraising events for the charity throughout the year and make sure there’s something for everyone to get involved in.

“In our latest fundraiser - Walk the Extra Mile - we took inspiration from the charity’s own statement of going the extra mile for disaster relief and decided we should do the same, quite literally... in our walking boots!

“We organised a sponsored walk with different routes of varying difficulty to make it as accessible as possible for people wanting to join in. The event was open to members of the club and the wider community and despite the dismal weather people still turned up to walk their extra mile - some even opted to do so in their own back garden.

“Incredibly, nobody seemed to mind getting soaked through. The support was amazing. Smiley faces all round, happy to be raising funds for an important cause.”

A good number of families braved the rain for the sponsored walk, which set off from Pentewen Sands Holiday Park. The walk took people along the Pentewan Valley Trail to Heligan.

Walkers were treated to sea shanties by the band Press Gang and heard from Rotary club member and ShelterBox ambassador David Earl. He shared more about ShelterBox’s projects around the world and his own personal fundraising for the charity - a skydive to mark his 80th birthday.

Elke said: “Rotary’s partnership with ShelterBox is incredibly valued by the Rotary community and we do all we can to raise funds and awareness for the important work it does.

“As well as our walk, we held a magnificent concert at St Fimbarrus Church in Fowey in March organised by Marlene Bowden, with fabulous performances by Restormel Concert Soul and Swing Band and the Imerys Mid-Cornwall Male Choir. Another special treat was listening to Marlene Bowden play the piano, and Patrick Saunders on the clarinet – just exquisite!

“We also held two themed dinner evenings organised by Ross Jerome, with food from around the world.”

John Stanbury, community fundraising assistant at ShelterBox, said: “We’re always humbled to hear about the incredible fundraising efforts our supporters go to, and what a fundraising extravaganza the St Austell Rotary Club has put on.”