A group of travel agents from Chard have raised more than £2,000 for a children’s cancer charity after organising a bingo night and one of the team taking part in the London marathon.

The team from Hays Travel, on Fore Street in Chard, organised the fundraising bingo night at the Shrubbery Hotel in Ilminster.

Almost 100 guests attended the event for a bingo night which raised £1,075 for Children with Cancer UK.

Hays Travel Chard branch manager, Tabi Richards, then went on to run the London marathon and bring the team’s fundraising total to a whopping £2,300.

Children with Cancer UK is the leading childhood cancer charity in the UK, supporting families and childhood cancer research since 1988.

Tabi said: “The London Marathon was an incredible experience – I felt truly lucky to take part. The sense of togetherness and community was unmatched. A real bucket-list moment and a day I’ll never forget.

“The bingo night we held to raise money for the incredible charity, Children with Cancer UK, was a huge success. The support we received was amazing, and it was a really fun evening.”

Hays Travel is the UK’s largest independent travel agent, with branches across the UK – all committed to supporting their customers and the local communities they serve. 

Each Hays Travel branch is provided with a £500 budget to use for fundraising and charity work in their local area; £200 of this is to be used to fundraise for charities which support young people’s mental health, and the other £300 can be used for charities chosen by the branch.

In the last year, Hays Travel’s Local Community Partnership initiative across its retail network has donated almost £170,000 to local charities.