SWEET toothed waffle fans flocked to Weymouth town centre to take part in a fruity charity challenge.

Contestants raced to eat five waffles loaded with cream, ice cream and strawberries to raise money for national charity Whizz Kids, which provides wheelchairs and other mobility aids for disabled youngsters.

Cousins Roddy Cameron and Martin Harvey organised the event with Waffle On owner Fiona Adams.

The sporting pair will run the London Marathon later this month.

Mr Harvey’s 12-year-old son Mitchel is disabled and relies upon his wheelchair to get around.

Mr Harvey said: “The charity is a great cause, and they’ve provided us with a couple of powered wheelchairs over the last five years. Mitchel is really pleased we’re raising the money and proud of me and Roddy.”

Mrs Adams and her team cooked five waffles for each of the hungry contestants, who were then timed to see who could eat their portion the fastest.

Scott Me-In, from Weymouth, emerged as the winner, after finishing his waffles in six minutes and 29 seconds. He said: “My housemate volunteered me for this as he knows I have a big appetite. I was a bit nervous at first but I soon got stuck in.”

The event, on Easter Monday, raised £65 for Whizz Kids through entry fees to the competition and audience donations. The money will be added to the total raised for the cousins’ London Marathon attempt.

Mr Cameron’s wife Nikkie, who was co-ordinating the challenge, said: “They like to do something mad every few years because the charity has helped Mitchel so much. A few years ago they cycled from Cornwall to Weymouth.”

Mr Cameron added: “I think raising the money is actually harder than running a marathon, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our sponsors, especially Topwash and Express Refrigeration.

“The charity has improved Mitchel’s quality of life so much and this is our way of giving something back.”

Fashion show brings in cash for our heroes

CHILDREN on Portland raised £77 for Help for Heroes by strutting their stuff at a fashion show.

The youngsters aged eight to 12 years from The Drop In’s Junior Youth Club decided that they wanted to do their bit to raise money for the servicemen’s charity.

The children got their thinking caps on and planned and delivered a fashion show raising a total of £77.

The Junior Drop In meets every Tuesday in The Drop In youth centre between 6pm and 7.30pm and hosts a variety of activities planned by the young people.

The fashion show was supported by two businesses: New Look kindly loaned the children outfits to walk down the catwalk in while Tesco donated raffle prizes.

Kate Chandler, Drop In coordinator, said: “I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who helped us make the fashion show a success, the support from community members and local businesses was incredible. Thank you so much New Look and Tesco, the children loved walking down the catwalk in lovely clothes and were so proud to raise £77 for Help for Heroes.”

If you want to hear more about the Junior Youth Club or any other activities the Drop In provides, contact Kate Chandler by emailing thedropinportland@hotmail.co.uk or calling 07557 883568.

Friends’ village hall sale nets £700 for charities

FRIENDS Amy Davies and Nia Kanellaki raised more than £700 for charity after organising their own fundraiser in Burton Bradstock.

The Year Eight Colfox pupils paid tribute to everyone who supported their cake sale in aid of Diabetes UK.

Amy said: “We would like to say thank you to everyone who supported us when we held our charity fundraising event at Burton Bradstock village hall.”

Nia added: “We raised £700 plus on the day which is to be split between two charities which we have an interest in.”

Amy and Nia came up with the idea on their own and the village supported them.

Nia said that she chose to support Diabetes UK as her mum has diabetes. Amy chose the Multiple Sclerosis Society as she is a fan of the pop group JLS.

Oritse Williams, who is one of the singers from the group, supports the MS Society as his mum has MS.

The girls began planning the event in January. They designed posters and placed them around the village advertising the event.

The duo also asked for items for a raffle, bric a brac and cakes as well as volunteers to help on the day.

Amy, Nia and their friends collected all the items for the day from around the village.

On the day there were information stalls about the charities as well as a cake stall, jams and pickles, gifts, bric a brac, cards and a raffle.

Amy and Nia said that the support was gratefully received.