PRESIDENT of Grays Rotary Club Adrian Alsop today (Thursday, 3 March) presented cheques totalling £10,700 to five chosen charities which are the beneficiaries of the club's Christmas street and supermarket collections -

Lauren Eagle-Allen, representing Little Havens Childrens Hospice, Janice Gilroy, representing Barnardo's, and the head of Treetops School, John Brewer, each received a cheque for £2,600. Each expressed their grateful thanks to the club.

Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital and the NSPCC were unrepresented but will respectively be receiving a cheque for £2,600 and £300 by post.

After lunch at Orsett Hall, the club thanked representatives from the local superstores Asda (Kim Morgan), Sainsburys (Will Doyle) and Tesco (Angela Mitchell) for their support and attendance together with Rotarian Steve Payne for building its new sleigh.

Although unable to join the lunch, grateful thanks were also offered to Grayers Graphics for help with the sleigh paintwork and Smiths Orchard Garden Centre for their assistance in counting and banking the cash collected.