CHARITIES internationally, nationally and locally will benefit from some of the £32,000 raised by the Lions Club of Chippenham over the past year.

A presentation evening was held last month to hand out funds to 21 local organisations from previous president Jim Dutch and welfare chairman Brian Hearn.

The president also nominated his own charities this year, which were Dorothy House and Wiltshire Air Ambulance, both of which were represented on the evening.

Also in attendance were Chippenham Mayor Terry Gibson and Councillor Sylvia Gibson at the event on July 21 at Chippenham Golf Club.

Mr Dutch said: “It was an absolutely marvellous evening which was really exceptional.

“For me it was nice to meet the people that we were giving the money to.

“What normally happens is we have a meeting, raise the money and then we send off a cheque and that’s it, we don’t normally get to meet the people so it was nice to meet the recipients.

“We did the presentation evening for the first time last year which was successful and more than likely we will try to do one next year as well.”