These ladies just love to give away money (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

These ladies just love to give away money

A DOZEN women will touch the lives of hundreds of people after giving away £65,000 to charities.

The women of the Upper Stratton Women's Institute recently got £196,000 from the sale of their Dores Road Hall.

But WI rules state that the windfall from the sale must go to good causes in the area, leaving the group to decide who to give it to.

They delivered the money to four of the town's main charities this week.

They are the Adver-backed Swindon Cancer Appeal, the Prospect Hospice in Wroughton, the Thamesdown Hydrotherapy Pool and Age Concern Swindon.

Three of them got £20,000, with Age Concern Swindon receiving £5,000.

Gwen Morgan, 77, secretary of the Upper Stratton WI, said: "We have enjoyed giving away all this money. We can't keep it for ourselves, we can only use the interest off of part of it for our group."

Two weeks ago the WI group donated £23,000 to the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Appeal and £25,000 to the Great Western Hospital.

The site of the former WI was bought by developers who are now turning it, and nearby land, into houses.