KIND-HEARTED locals turned out in their hundreds for Wark’s annual charity lunch last week, raising over £4,000 for Northumbria Blood Bikes.

Last Wednesday was Wark’s 28th charity lunch, and 200 people from Wark and beyond gathered in the village’s town hall, raising a total of £4,400.

This year, the organisers chose Northumbria Blood bikes as the beneficiaries of the funds raised, and John Buxton from the charity came along with his bike, named ‘Dobbies’, to speak to those who attended.

Northumbria Blood bikes is a charity run by volunteers, who work day and night to deliver blood samples and urgent medical supplies to hospitals, healthcare sites and laboratories across the North- East.

One of the charity lunch organisers, Judith Weir, said: “One of the blood bikers came with his bike. He came before we even started and was speaking to everybody, telling them what they do and what it was all about.

“The money from this charity lunch always goes local. When we meet in January, people come forward with ideas and this was the one that was chosen this year.

“Up until last year we had raised up to £72,551. It all started in 1990 when we raised £722 and in the last five years we’ve raised more than £4,000 each year. People are very generous; we have a big raffle and we had a day selling tickets for that at the Mart.”

Feeding 200 people throughout the day requires a lot of hard work by the organisers, and around 30 volunteers helped out during the day, doing everything from washing the dishes to serving food and making tea and coffee.

“We are very happy with how much we have raised over the years and with how kind everyone is to support the lunch,” said Judith.