A PLAQUE is set to be dedicated to a long-standing charity committee for raising more than £750,000.

It will be placed in Darwen Town Hall and will commemorate the work of the town’s local committee for Cancer Research UK.

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The group has been in existence for more than 50 years and has organised scores of events from table top sales to cycles and runs around the town to try and fund better research into the disease.

Chairman Linda Chatburn, who has been a volunteer for nearly 40 years, said the committee would like to thank the whole of Darwen.

She said: “This huge milestone could not have been reached without the continued support of the town.

“We might have organised the events but without people coming to them we would not have achieved this.

“We might not run events that are headline-worthy very often but all the little things over the years have had a huge impact.

“People sometimes think the money comes from government but it doesn’t; it’s all the shops and volunteers so raising this money is vital.”

Mrs Chatburn, 68, was given the all-clear 10 years ago after being diagnosed with cervical cancer herself and her mum also died of the condition.

She said: “Cancer is something that affects most people at some point or at least everyone knows someone it has affected.

“I joined just after my mum died so I guess that spurred me on.”

The group is now raising around £18,000 a year through coffee mornings, book sales, supermarket collections and more.

Many of the committee members have been volunteering for a number of years with secretary Marion Walsh having dedicated nearly 50 years of service.

The plaque is set to be unveiled in the reception area of the town hall in Croft Street in March and it will be the first time the committee has received this level of recognition for their efforts.

Mrs Chatburn said: “I really was chuffed when I was told about the plaque.

“We didn’t realise we had reached that goal because we just keep going.”

A book sale will be held at the Carus Centre in Hoddlesden on Saturday, March 4, and on Saturday, April 22, there will be a table top sale at Derwent Hall.