CREDITON and District Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraising Group is in need of two or three enthusiastic volunteers who could spare a few hours to help at street or store collections.

The group has raised more than £95,000 since January 1992 and would like help to reach a total of £100,000 by the 25th anniversary in January 2017.

Belinda Petersen, the group Chair, said: “We aim to combine fun and friendship with fundraising.

"Unfortunately, a couple of members have had to pull out for personal reasons recently, which has reduced our number of Macmillan Supporters.

"This just isn’t enough to sustain the level of activity we had last year so it is almost inevitable that without new members the amount we can raise will go down at a time when the number of people affected by cancer is going up.

"Most of the money we raise comes from street and store collections. We would love to do more but it just isn’t possible without more people coming forward to help.”

Bridget Hill, the local Fundraising Manager for Macmillan Cancer Support said: “Our fundraising groups are a very important part of the charity.

"Last year our groups across Devon raised more than £130,000 to fund services which can be accessed by local people.

“Fundraising also enables more people to find out about the support we offer to anyone affected by cancer, like the Macmillan Support Line and Macmillan grants.

"We don’t have charity shops so our fundraising groups are a vital link to local communities.”

Belinda added: “We would love to hear from anyone who would like to join us for a few hours now and then to help out with street and store collections.”

The most recent collections by the Crediton and District Group have included Okehampton High Street, Crediton High Street, Marks and Spencer in Exeter, Boots at Crediton, Morrisons in Crediton and the Crediton Tesco store at Wellparks.

She would particularly like to hear from anyone who could help with a collection at the Crediton Tesco store during the afternoon of Tuesday, December 6 as, to date, the group has only found sufficient volunteers to cover the morning in one or two hour sessions.

Anyone who would like to find out more is asked to contact Belinda on 01363 85118 or by emailing: [email protected] .

Alan Quick