A YOUNG athlete from Buckland Monachorum stepped out recently to raise £175 for the Children's Hospice South West.

Stephanie Hughes, 13, ran 25 miles over five days on a treadmill at a local gym. She presented local fundraiser Linda Downing with the money at a concert in the village hall.

'I was absolutely speechless,' said Mrs Downing. 'And they all kept it secret from me.'

But that was not the only surprise for Mrs Downing that night.

Cornish male voice choir the Trelawney Singers presented her with £100 they raised at an earlier concert, and the event itself, packing the village hall to the gunwales, raised a further £300.