CHARITIES are often born out of sadness, but one group of fundraisers has every right to celebrate after a record-breaking year.

Bromsgrove and District Branch of Leukaemia Research raised £62,000 in 2000 alone which will help improve the lives of people with the disease.

Branch chairman Nicole Harris, from Redditch Road, Stoke Heath, joined the charity when she saw an appeal in the Advertiser/Messenger in 1988, six weeks after her son, Marc, had been diagnosed with leuk-aemia.

In 1989, Marc died from his illness at the age of nine.

Nicole devoted more time to charity work and took the helm at the Bromsgrove branch.

Since then, the fun runs, bikeathons and collections have become a familiar part of the town's calendar.

Nicole is proud that 95p in the pound given to Leukaemia Research goes right to where it is needed, one of the highest rates for any charity.

It means nearly £10m goes to projects all over the country, including nearly £1m to the Birmingham hospitals which treat children and adults in our area.

Nicole said: "A great deal has changed in the last 13 years. Leukaemia Research has given £200,000 to fund a unit at Birmingham.

"There are people helped by new techniques which Leuk-aemia Research funded."

The efforts of volunteers working for free helps them to keep costs down, she said.

While the big events grab all the attention, the untold story of townsfolk's generosity lies in the regular street collections.

Around £700 is collected with every "tin-shake," thanks to the efforts of around 20 volunteers and the benevolence of Bromsgrove people.

Nicole said: "One volunteer, Marjorie Foster, is always out there and always takes the most money, whatever the weather."

Leukaemia Research inspires some amazing feats from its supporters.

An Alvechurch woman, Rowena Bales, raised £18,600 for the Bromsgrove branch by completing the New York Marathon.

Running more than 26 miles must have been hard enough, but getting so much sponsorship -- including a separate £18,000 to go direct to Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Hospital in Birmingham -- was a marathon effort too.

After such a successful year, the charity is hoping to make its events bigger and better.

The Junior Bikeathon in May is being supported by Blue Peter and aims to be the biggest sponsored cycle event ever.

But the charity's oldest event, the fun run, has suffered an unfortunate setback.

With parts of the countryside closed to contain foot and mouth disease outbreaks, the May event will be put back to June 10, if all goes well.

"I am like Tony Blair," Nicole joked.

"But I will be very disappointed if the fun run does not happen this year.

"It started in the year I became chairman with 200 runners -- the last one had about 400."

Juggling a career teaching at The Mount School, in Birmingham Road, and running a charity is not easy but Nicole pays tribute to the committee members who help things run smoothly.

She said: "Everyone has a role and the secretary, Sue Knoll, is wonderful.

"She puts up with me dropping things off at her home whether it's 8am or 9pm.

"I will carry on doing this for some time. It's not something you do for one or two years, it's a lifetime commitment."

If you would like to get involved with any of the events, join in with collections or help in any way, call Nicole on (01527) 878493.