THE Okehampton Rotary Club coffee morning was hailed as a success by attendees and raised almost £700 for local charities.

The annual Rotary Club Christmas Coffee Morning was held on Saturday, November 26 in the Charter Hall, Okehampton. There were cakes for sale, a tombola, raffle prizes, as well as special entertainment provided by the Okehampton Primary School choir.

The hall was prepared early on Saturday and stalls were set up by Rotary club members.

The invited local charities, who also set up stalls to raise funds for their own good cause, included Devon Aid Kerogwe, Devon Air Ambulance and the Get Changed Theatre Group, South West Hospice and Sue Leech.

More than 20 members of the Okehampton Primary School choir came along to sing Christmas songs and carols from the Charter Hall stage in front of a packed audience.

A highlight for audience members was an amusing rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer – which included funny actions.

The choir has been invited to sing again at the Rotary Christmas lunches at the Ashbury Golf Hotel in December.

David Potter of The Rotary Club of Okehampton said: ‘The Rotary Club would like to thank all those people who attended or helped in any way to make the coffee morning a great success. Thanks especially to parents who gave up their morning to bring their children in to sing for us, we very much appreciate it.’

During the coffee morning, the Rotary Club President Robert Harman and Rotarian Barry Thompson presented cheques to Mr and Mrs Weeks on behalf of Devon Air Ambulance and Paul Vachon representing the North Dartmoor Rescue group.

This money was raised by the Rotary Dartmoor Challenge OK event held in September.

This event sets a challenging day’s hike over spectacular Dartmoor, involving navigation and finding the answers to some intriguing questions on the route.

The navigation element proved a little too challenging for two teams who managed to get lost for an hour or two, but all completed the course safely.

The participants pay an entry fee and collect sponsorship which is then donated to the Rotary Club’s charity effort. A major proportion of this was donated to the two nominated charities.

This year’s winning team was from the Helston-Lizard Rotary Club who raised £300.

As a result, they are awarded the Alan Roberton Autumn Challenge OK Trophy and get the opportunity to nominate a charity of their choice to receive a donation for £250.