MORE than £200,000 has been donated to charities and organisations in the Exeter area in the last year, thanks to the Exeter Chiefs Foundation.

Since September 2018, the Foundation has given £223,428 to local organisations, community projects and the Exeter Chiefs Foundation’s designated charities.

Of this amount, £64,000 was shared with the 20 2018/19 Exeter Chiefs Foundation’s designated charities at the Exeter Chiefs Season Kick-off Dinner; funds which have been raised by representatives of the charities through match-day bucket collections and car parking.

Other projects to have benefited during the year include a new vehicle for transport service Freedomwheels, new rehabilitation equipment for the Mardon Neuro-rehabilitation Centre (part of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust) and defibrillators for local rugby clubs via the charity Jay’s Aim.

Speaking at the season kick-off dinner, Chairman of the Exeter Chiefs Foundation, Tony Rowe OBE, said: "The Exeter Chiefs and the Exeter Chiefs Foundation are honoured to be able to help such a wide range of worthy causes. Each year, we see the Foundation grow in stature and the work it has done since we launched in 2011 has been simply fantastic.

"We know from speaking to all the charities involved that the funds we raise really do make a difference in so many ways."

The Foundation is now in its eighth year as a charity and since inception has raised just shy of £1.5m. More than 90 charities and organisations have been directly funded by the Exeter Chiefs Foundation to-date.

Thanks go to the following 2018/19 charities for their collection efforts: Dream-A-Way, ELF, Exeter Age UK, Exeter Athletic Rugby, Exeter Dementia Action Alliance, Exeter Lions, Families for Children, Force, Jay’s Aim, Nightspot, Richard’s Wish, See The Future, Space, Surf Life Saving GB, The Estuary League of Friends, The Honest Truth, The Last Kiss Foundation, The Royal Marines Charity, Vranch House and Wooden Spoon.