WESTHOUGHTON Rotary Club has handed out its record-breaking Christmas collection money to 26 community organisations.

The club split £11,150 between the groups at a recent presentation evening attended by the mayor of Westhoughton, Cllr Anne Graham.

The money was raised during the club’s annual Christmas sleigh tour collection.

Rotarian Jim Yates said: “Our club has become used to punching above its weight but that didn’t spoil our delight at raising more money than ever this Christmas.

“That kind of special achievement has extended to the Rotary Youth Speaks Competition when, for the first time, both of our nominated high school teams have qualified for the regional finals to be held later this month.

“Despite some challenging weather conditions, our sleigh collection was more successful than ever, thanks not only to the generosity of local people but also to all the hard work put in by Rotarians and a growing number of vitally needed extra supporters.

“After all that effort, I have the special pleasure of presiding over the best bit, giving money away to deserving local organisations.”

The extra money raised also meant the club could dedicate funds to some of its programme of community events. These include speaking competitions for both high schools and primary schools.

The current president of Westhoughton Rotary Club, Steve Harrington has chosen Urban Outreach as his charity.

Charity chief executive David Bagley said the group would be able to provide lunches in the summer holidays for children who get free meals during term time as a result of the money the group received.

Other charities which benefited from the presentation evening included Bolton Hospice, Westhoughton Age Support Project and the Westhoughton Inner Wheel.