MOLE Avon Trading Ltd has been successful in raising tens of thousands of pounds for charity in celebration of its 40th anniversary.

The company, which has branches in Crediton, Okehampton and Axminster and also a shop, Town and Countrywear, in Crediton high street, is celebrating its 40th birthday and to mark the occasion, staff decided two years ago that with the support of customers, they would like to raise £40,000 for a local charity.

Staff decided to raise funds, through various methods, for Hospiscare and last week, at an anniversary dinner held at the Waie Inn, Zeal Monachorum, presented the charity with a cheque for £46,424.97.

To raise the money, staff organised or took part in a farm quiz, car boot sales, car wash, quiz nights and pub quizzes, cake sales and tombolas, harvest suppers, ladies' Starlight walk, charity cookbook, Torbay and River Dart cruise, open gardens, bingo nights, barbecue and refreshments at pet and equine days, non-uniform days, ploughing match and a mens walk.

Other events included a skydive, craft fair, duck race, lucky dips and tombolas at shows, fun ride and barbecue, go-karting, whist drive, letterboxing on Dartmoor, race night, English Riviera cruise, bucket collections, competitions, draws and raffles, a Mole Avon Fashion Show, 'Travelling Trends' fashion show and two members of staff from the Crediton branch completed a sponsored trek in the Sahara desert.

John Lee, chairman of the board of directors of Mole Avon Trading Ltd, thanked the staff and customers who supported the appeal.

He said: 'In just over 18 months we have raised an amazing sum, thanks to the staff of all our branches and the central administration office at Crediton.

'Two years ago we decided to mark our 40th year and chose to raise £40,000 for Hospiscare.

'This was ambitious but followed our 25th anniversary appeal, when we raised £33,000 for the Children's Hospice South West.

'It was a huge effort by everyone and especially from Richard Bilson our chief executive and Claire Arthur from the Crediton branch, who rounded off the fundraising last month by trekking across the Sahara desert.

'This is a truly outstanding effort by our staff and it shows how dedicated they are to the community in which they work.'

Mr Lee added that the charity would benefit customers from the local area.

Glenys Atherton, chief executive of Hospiscare and the charity's corporate fundraiser, John Arnold, received the cheque from Mr Lee and Mr Bilson.

Mrs Atherton said: 'I am overwhelmed. I was thrilled to receive a cheque for the amazing figure of £46, 424.97 from Mole Avon.

'This sum represents two years of fundraising by the company's staff and we are incredibly grateful for their hard work and dedication.  This sum buys 1,857 hours of high-quality wraparound care for people who are nearing the end of their lives; but, as importantly, it buys peace of mind for carers and families and precious time for them to be with loved ones whose symptoms are being managed by experts.

'I think everyone who works for Mole Avon should be very proud of what they have achieved and I thank them for being so generous.

'Another great thing is that the Mole Avon staff and so many more people had a great time raising the money.'

John Arnold, said: 'I would like to thank Mole Avon staff at all their branches who have done an amazing job raising this fabulous sum.

'They've been a dream to work with and just gone ahead and organised a tremendous variety of fundraising events over the last two years with very little input from Hospiscare.

'We are very dependent on support from the local community and partnerships and with businesses like Mole Avon ensure we can continue making a difference for more than 2,000 patients and their families each year.'