SLIMMERS from the dale have helped to raise £3,700 for charity by donating clothes that no longer fit.
As part of the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw, held at the Slimming World groups across the south west Durham team, 148 bags of clothes, shoes and accessories were collected including 27 from the Barnard Castle groups.
The bags have been donated to Cancer Research UK shops in the area.
Each bag is worth about £25 to the charity and the national campaign, which is in its sixth year, is aiming to beat the total raised in 2017 – £3.3million in just two weeks.
The Slimming World team developer for south west Durham, Rochelle Holmes, said: “I can’t quite believe how many bags we managed to collect – I knew our members were amazing but I didn’t expect such an incredible level of effort.
“Collecting them up to take to local Cancer Research UK shops was a real workout in itself but all so worth it.
“To raise such a phenomenal amount for a charity that does so much to beat cancer feels amazing.
“So many people don’t know how much of a difference losing weight can make to health – including reducing the risk of developing cancer. Hopefully this campaign and our efforts for charity will help inspire more people in Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland to improve their health and change their lives by losing weight too.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
