A CHRISTMAS raffle organised by a charity group raised more than £2,000 for good causes.
The Clique, which was formed more than 20 years ago, has about 20 members and raise funds to support local clubs, groups and people
In normal years, members host a variety of events including the highly popular It’s a Knockout in Barnard Castle, but they have been unable to carry out their usual activities due to the pandemic.
The bumper raffle, which featured 58 prizes ranging from a wide-screen television to golfing days, raised £2,162.
Peter Worley, secretary of The Clique, said: “We want to thank JT Atkinsons and Technimark plus many clubs and businesses which provided vouchers and prizes and also the individuals who are too many to thank for all their support. Also a big thank you should go to Gillian Robinson, Morrisons’ community champion, and Morrisons themselves for letting us sell tickets to fundraise.”
Prize winners will be contacted in the coming weeks.
Matthew Croom, chairman of the group ,said: “It is great that the public have got together to fund this as all our other fundraisers had to be cancelled.
“It has been a disappointing year for everyone but thankfully we have been able to help out in some places. Hopefully, we will have a better year next year.
“We have, though, been able to hand out donations, amounting to £7,635, to some groups and individuals in 2020. That’s very good considering we haven’t had our normal fundraising events.
“It is less than we would normally give out but we wanted to make sure we continued to support local people and clubs, especially now.”
The Clique has continued to help 12 junior sporting clubs, St Teresa’s Hospice, TODYs and gave a cash boost to Teesdale Day Clubs.
Items have also been bought for residents including a “high dependency” pushchair, a recliner chair and sensory garden equipment.
![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)
