Three Whittlesey ladies who ran a half marathon after losing nine stone between them have raised over £1,300 for local charity NGNPUK.

Anna Foster, who runs the Monday and Thursday Slimming World group at Eastrea Centre, was inspired to fundraise because one of her members, Pauline Barham, needed a syringe driver in her final days after suffering pancreatic cancer.

Anna teamed up with Karen Willmott, who attends Gemma Lee’s Tuesday morning session at Childers Sports and Social Club in Whittelsey, after hearing she wanted to raise money for the charity.

Gemma got involved after a family friend, Kevin Bassam, suffered from the same disease and also needed a syringe driver in his final days.

Louise Nicholls, who attends the Tuesday afternoon group at Childers, started the charity after her dad David was diagnosed with cancer, on palliative care at home and struggling with pain management.

She then set out to get more units available to those who need it, with no one having to wait. However, at £1,100 a unit, it wasn’t an easy task,

Anna said: “But thanks to the community and Louise’s family 61 syringe drivers have gone out locally so no one needs to die in pain.”

The girls had all signed up to do the Perkin’s half marathon on Sunday October 14, but five days before Anna caught a bug which wiped her off her feet and left her unable to run.

Karen and Louise completed the Perkins run and Anna ran 13.1 miles from Coates to Turves to Eastrea to Whittlesey and back again the following Wednesday.

Together they raised £1,342 which means one more unit can go out to those that need it.