A LECTURE about Arctic exhibitions through history has raised more than £2,000 for local charities.

Organised by Hexham Rotary Club the event,‘The North-West Passage – Triumph and Tragedy in the Arctic Ice’, took place at Hexham’s Forum cinema, and was hosted by South African explorer and famed storyteller Rob Caskie.

Rob recounted to audiences the tales of daring men who who attempted to find their way through the icy waters of the Canadian Arctic archipelago.

These men included British explorer John Franklin, who disappeared without a trace along with his crew of 125 men on board the HMS Erebus and Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen’s journey through the North West Passage, and later the North and South Poles.

From ticket sales and donations on the evening, the club managed to raise more than £2,000.

The money will be shared between Tynedale Hospice at Home and the Hexham Rotary Club’s own Emergency Disaster Fund, which raises essential funding for national or international disasters such as flooding and typhoons when a quick response is required.