Relief effort raises tidy sum

The nigh on 300 strong contingent from Sidley United's youth section that completed the Fitness First Mile around Bexhill High School on Saturday, last week was the largest single participating group nationwide according to the charity themselves.

Club founder Glen Butchers, Jessica Hardy, Jack Hardy and Penny Hardy plus youngest runner Molly Hardy, 3, and eldest Chandler, 67, are pictured handing the 623.85 cheque to Observer Sport reporter Simon Newstead.

And the story of Chandler is a fascinating one. The veteran of nine London Marathons, in which he has raised 9,700 for charity, has no connection with the club but simply turned up on the day after reading of the event in the Observer.