CANCER research fund-raisers in Wyre Forest are celebrating a record year after almost doubling their previous best by raising more than £62,000.

The district's Cancer Research UK committee has handed over £62,811 to fund research.

Committee treasurer, David Smith, said there had been a massive rise in the level of giving during 2005, smashing the 2003 record of £36,481.

Functions organised by the small Wyre Forest committee raised more than £4,500 and Kidderminster's annual Music For You concert netted £2,150 for the charity. In Memoriam gifts virtually trebled, from £5,643 in 2004 to £16,276, and a charity golf day raised £8,870.

Other income came from Bewdley Young Enterprise, which gave £1,500, the Hartlebury Open Gardens, which donated £837 and a Tom the Frop concert which raised £616.

Collections outside B&Q by committee members raised more than £700 and a coffee morning organised by committee member, Mike Griffiths and his wife, Ann, netted £500.

The Wyre Forest account was further boosted by a £21,400 living legacy, donated via Severn Valley Railway, and £3,213 raised by the Wyre Forest Fellowship Club specifically for men's cancer.

Committee chairman, Peter Tomlinson, said: "The number of In Memoriam donations has been phenomenal and is surely linked to a growing awareness of the vital work of Cancer Research UK and the great strides forward it is making in finding treatments and cures."

Anyyone wishing to support Cancer Research UK through the Wyre Forest committee or by organising a fund-raising event should ring 01299 250205.