THE charity walk for peace, organised by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder Association and East Hampshire District Council (EHDC), raised more than £7,000 for good causes.

The groups gathered before Christmas to hand over the money and celebrate the success of last September’s event.

Charities to benefit from the walk included HomeStart-Butser (£2,000), HomeStart Wey-Water (£2,000), the Southern Domestic Abuse Service (£2,000), the Rosemary Foundation (£500), and Artscape (£500).

The walk followed a five-mile course from Bentley railway station to Alice Holt Forest and was the first to be held in the district.

At the presentation, attended by East Hampshire MP Damian Hinds, it was announced that plans are already under way for a follow-up event in 2018.

Julie Butler, EHDC’s portfolio holder for customer relations, said: “The charity walk for peace was a fantastic event which brought together the community and gave people the chance to do something really positive.

“I would like to thank the Ahamidyya Muslim Elder Association for bringing it to East Hampshire and for everyone that came along on the day to raise money and make it such a fabulous event.”

Rizwan Khan, regional head of the walk for peace, was on hand to present cheques to the charities at a ceremony at Penns Place in Petersfield.

He said: “I would like to thank all the charities here, they have been with us through the whole process. I would also like to thank EHDC for all its support. Hopefully we can work together again next year on another walk for peace.”

And he added: “The Ahmadiyya Muslim Elder Association has had a fantastic year, raising more than £685,000 for charities across the country, and we really couldn’t have done it without all of your support.”