AROUND £10,000 was distributed by the Rotary Club of Farnham Weyside to charitable organisations during a marathon presentation evening at The Bush Hotel in Farnham.

The Rotary Club organises the annual Farnham Pilgrim Marathon, which is now in its tenth year, with money raised through entry fees and sponsorship.

Club president Diane Vasey welcomed the 23 guests and outlined the aim of the club, not just to provide funding for charity projects but also to work with them in the community.

She noted examples among those present, such as The Woodlarks Centre, Sailability, Tice’s Meadow Bird Group, Bells Piece and The Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, and indicated a willingness of the club to find other ways of working in the community while attracting others to join Rotary in this process.

Farnham mayor David Attfield presented donations to ten recipients, including Guildford-based charity The Prostate Project in memory of marathon founder David Holdford, who sadly passed away 14 months ago as a result of prostate cancer.

Diane also thanked the marathon sponsors and invited other organisations to sponsor parts of the event in order to enhance the charitable donations for this year.

Concluding the evening, marathon committee chairman Lynda Pattie praised everyone who had helped make the event such a success for the last nine years, and introduced the plans for the tenth marathon to be held on September 8.

There will be many new features, including an opportunity for walkers to take part in the half-marathon. The marathon will also be run in the reverse direction this year, so hills which used to go up will now go down and vice-versa.