THE Rotary Club donated £15,000 to various charities.

The Rotary Club of Mar Dyke Valley, Grays held an event to distribute the money to different charities.

The club held an annual cycle ride last June and around 400 cyclists took part in the event which started and finished at the Civic Hall, Blackshots, Thurrock and was held to raise funds.

The event featured individuals and teams cycling to raise money for a wide variety of charities, with proceeds from organising the event being distributed as donations by the Rotary Club.

The presentation evening was hosted by club president Steve Walker who welcomed guests including Cathy Kent, Thurrock mayor who received a cheque for £500 for her charities.

Mr Walker also thanked the many organisation who supported the event including Costco, the Whitmore Arms, Port of Tilbury, Industrial Friction Services, and Decathlon.

St John Ambulance, Lehrian Transport, South Eastern CVR Ltd, the Mayor’s office staff and Thurrock Police were also thanked for their support.

He paid tribute to work of Rotarians and their families.

Essex Air Ambulance and Great Ormond Street Hospital were the two charities chosen by the Rotary Club as beneficiaries of the event and they too received £500 each and cheques were presented to representatives by Mr Walker and fellow Rotarian Russell Keegan.

Rotarian Paul Havis presented a cheque for £2,300 to Peter Hacking representing the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and paid tribute to the fundraising efforts of Labour councillor and Rotarian Gerard Rice, who took part in the cycle ride on behalf of the institute’s Thurrock fundraising branch.

Ockendon Scouts has been longstanding supporters of the cycle ride and other Mar Dyke Club events and Rotarian Bill Brown presented Ian Albright, from the scouts, with £520.

Ian told the audience how all the scouts thoroughly enjoy all they do with the Rotary Club.

He added: “It’s not all about the money for the kids, it’s the fun they have doing the events like the cycle marathon and joining the members on the Santa Sleigh.”

There were various other groups and organisations that also benefitted from the clubs annual cycle ride.