HEXHAM and Haltwhistle Freemasons have donated £700 to a suicide prevention charity.

The donation was presented to Stuart Reader, who has been a supporter of Papyrus since his son, Ryan, died in 2017.

Stuart's uncle, Colin, who presented the cheque, explained that the Freemasons had all given some money towards the charity.

He said: "We all just clubbed together, we said we were going to do something for him.

"It's a nation wide charity but we just thought it was right from the personal side.

"They can't ever fetch Ryan back, but it might help someone else in the future.

"The Masons are actually one of the biggest charitable organisations, people never think of us like they do of the Roundtable, but we're actually very similar."

The cheque was presented to Stuart at a party for Colin's 50th wedding anniversary.

It's not the first time someone from the district has raised money for Papyrus in Ryan's memory - in September, Allendale's Steven Blair took part in the gruelling Spartan Agoge Challenge to raise money for the charity.

Papyrus's mission is to reduce the number of young people who take their own lives by shattering the stigma around suicide and equipping young people and their communities with the skills to recognise and respond to suicidal behaviour.