A CHARITY cheese and wine party, hosted by a Yelverton couple, proved successful in raising money for Help for Heroes.

David Stitson, a wing commander in the RAF and an orthopaedic surgeon, and his wife Sarah, who both work at Nuffield Health in Plymouth, organised the party for ward staff and friends and raised £1,200 for the charity.

Around 50 people attended the party, which took place at Mr and Mrs Stitson's home, paying £10 for a ticket and giving donations throughout the evening for drinks.

Mrs Stitson said: 'We normally have a party around Christmas for the ward staff, but my husband and I went away this year so we didn't have time, so we decided to do it a bit later this year and raise some money from it.'

The party also incorporated a cookery demonstration by Pampered Chef, from which commission from the sales went to Help for Heroes, and a raffle with prizes donated from local businesses, including The Rock Inn, Yelverton Stores, Bidders Butchers, Plymouth Albion Rugby Club, Nuffield Health and Dartmouth Smokehouse.

'We chose Help for Heroes because my husband goes out to Afghanistan for a period of time every year to work in a hospital out there, as do some of his colleagues' said Mrs Stitson,

'So he has seen first hand the awful injuries that our soldiers suffer. We often hear about the soldiers killed but not about the injuries they suffer, so this is a very worthy cause to raise money for.'

Mr and Mrs Stitson have expressed thanks to everyone who attended the party and made a donation and to all the local businesses who donated a raffle prize.