A TEAM of fundraisers in Thornbury are celebrating after raising £1million for a UK cancer charity.

After forty-five years of fundraising for Cancer Research UK the dedicated Thornbury and District Local Committee have hit the huge milestone for donating £1million to the charity.

The committee began fundraising for Cancer Research UK in 1977 and have ran a number of events in the years since.

The team say the huge total has been raised by various activities across the years including social events, cash collections, raffles, sales and personal challenges.

Tony Flintoff, Chair of Thornbury and District Local Committee, said: “I would like to thank the generosity of the people in the Thornbury area. They, along with our committee members and volunteers, have always been very supportive of the work that we do and are the main reason that we have been so successful in raising this amazing sum.”

Money raised by the Thornbury and District Local Committee funds research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer, helping to ensure more people in the Bristol area and across the UK survive.

Louise Gash, Cancer Research UK fundraising spokesperson for Bristol and the surrounding area, said: “The Thornbury and District Local Committee has made a huge contribution to Cancer Research UK’s work over the past 45 years, and we are incredibly grateful for the part they have played in the fight against cancer.

“Our determination to beat the disease hasn’t faltered and we are more focussed than ever on our ambition of seeing 3 in 4 people survive their cancer by 2034.

"However, our progress relies on the incredible dedication and commitment of volunteers and supporters like the Thornbury Committee without whom we would not be able to fund our life-saving work. One in two of us will get cancer in our lifetime*. All of us can support the research that will beat it.”

The fundraising group are always looking for local people who would like to support their fundraising and to bring their experiences and help raise even more funds for Cancer Research UK.

For more information contact Lynfa Fisher on 07736 339 514.