Seven-mile car carry raises thousands for Sunderland's St Benedict's Hospice

A team who carried a Nissan Juke for seven miles raised around £2000 in memory of a Houghton gym-goer.

Setting off from Cherry Blossom Way near Nissan, the team then made the seven mile journey back to Evolution Fitness in Houghton - all while carrying the car.

Teams of four took it in turns for the feat, which saw them lift a model car, thought to weigh 150kg, the entire way.

They took on the challenge in honour of popular gym member Chris Mordey who died in February aged 59, just seven weeks after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer - and managed to raise double their initial target of £1,000.

Chris, from Houghton, had been a much-respected member of the gym and the wider Houghton community and the team from Evolution Fitness wanted to raise funds for St Benedict's Hospice in Ryhope in his memory.

Micky Donkin, who organised the event, said the team were overwhelmed with the public's support along the route and were delighted to raise so much money to help patients who are in need of end-of-life care.

He said: "It went amazingly. Harder than we thought, and took a little longer but we had huge support from the public and smashed the target for fundraising for St Benedict’s.

"I think we’re probably in the region of £1,800 - £2,000+ with gift aid."

Only part funded by the NHS, the hospice relies heavily on fundraising for its registered charity to be able to continue its care provision, including specialist palliative care.

Money raised through its charity shops and fundraising events is essential for it to be able to continue helping patients and their families.

There's still time to donate to the fundraiser on the Just Giving page here.