A KIND-hearted mother and son have raised more than £500 for a cause close to their hearts after requesting charity donations instead of presents when they celebrated their birthdays.

Diane Pentreath, who recently turned 57 and her son Niall Pentreath, who has turned 20, wanted to celebrate their birthdays with a 'Summer Lights' party in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.

The 'Summer Lights' scheme is a new initiative from Macmillan, where people hosting parties use fairy-lights, candles or lanterns to set the scene and invite friends and family - the people who 'light up their life' - to join them in exchange for a donation to the cause.

Ms Pentreath of Kempsey, held her birthday party at Seaborne, in Court Meadow, Worcester on Sunday, July 10.

She said: "People have been very generous and have given a lot of money for the charity.

"I have never done anything like this before and it takes a lot of organising, but everybody had a fantastic time.

"You never know when you are going to need them and I liked the theme of 'let's all shine together'."

The celebration - which also served as a going away party for Ms Pentreath's son Luke, who is going travelling for nine months with his girlfriend, raised a total of £515 for Macmillan.

"I was hoping to raise a couple of hundred pounds so I am very happy with how much was raised," she said.

"I saw it on Facebook and thought it was a really nice idea."

A raffle also took place on the day with prizes donated by local businesses.