CARING members of the St John’s Slimming World group in Wellington have collected 43 bags of clothes they have slimmed out of to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Jill Rumary, who runs the group, encouraged members, their friends and families to spring clean their wardrobes and collect clothes, shoes and accessories for the charity shop in Taunton.

The group, which meets every Saturday at St John’s Primary School, was taking part in Slimming World’s national fundraising campaign, the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw.

Last year its Big Clothes Throw raised £1.7m for Cancer Research UK and this year the organisation aims to raise £2m.

Jill said: “The incredible members of my group have amazed me with their enthusiasm, dedication and commitment once again. This year’s Big Clothes Throw has been a fantastic success and I can’t believe just how many bags my members, their friends and families have managed to collect for Cancer Research UK. It’s been so rewarding and I’m so proud to help pull together such a phenomenal amount of stock for such a worthwhile cause.

“Knowing they’ll never need their ‘before’ clothes again, when I told my group about the campaign they couldn’t wait to take part. Not only is the Clothes Throw a perfect opportunity for all of us to celebrate our slimming success, it is also vital we spread the message that keeping a healthy weight could reduce the risk of developing ten different types of cancer. This is why Slimming World chose Cancer Research UK as our national charity partner. We really hope our bag collection will help to increase understanding of how weight affects cancer risk.”

Members of the group have lost 89 stone since January this year. Sandra Collins, who joined on September 5, 2015, has lost 4st dropped from a dress size 20 to ten.

She said: “It felt really liberating to donate all my old clothes. I actually enjoyed bagging them up and saying goodbye – it felt like I was saying bye to the old me! Now I absolutely love going into a shop and choosing whatever I like– I always hated shopping before.

“Thanks to Jill and Slimming World I achieved my target weight in May and I know that the new me is here to stay. I feel so much fitter, more confident and I’m healthier than ever, too. It’s great to know that the money raised from my donated items will go towards research to find better ways to treat cancer.”

The St John’s group meets every Saturday at 9am at St John’s Primary School. To find out more visit www.slimmingworld.co.uk or call Jill on 01823 490754.