A CHARITY was the overall winner when two Basingstoke businesses joined forces to put on a fundraising race night.

Metro Bank Basingstoke, which has a store in Festival Place, and Lamb Brook Solicitors, based in Winchester Street, Basingstoke, teamed up to organise the fundraising event at Basingstoke Golf Club in aid of Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

Nearly 20 teams turned out to support the event, which was raising money for Ark’s £5million campaign to help fund the a new cancer treatment centre to be built in the Basingstoke area.

A total of £2,300 was raised on the evening from bets on the televised races and the proceeds of the raffle.

Leigh Atkinson, local director of Metro Bank’s Basingstoke store, was the compere for the evening. He said: “We are delighted that £2,300 was raised for Ark – a charity that is supporting a very important project that will make a big difference to local cancer patients and their families.

“We are grateful to our co-partners Lamb Brooks for their help in organising the evening, and also to the many local business people who attended the event.”

Hannah Perryman, head of marketing for Lamb Brooks Solicitors, added: “This is the latest in a series of events that Lamb Brooks have organised, or been involved in, as part of our long-running support for Ark, and we are delighted that it has delivered another great result for the charity’s fundraising campaign.”

Mark Jones, director of fundraising and communications at Ark Cancer Centre Charity, said: “This event was another great show of support by the local business community for Ark, and the charity is particularly grateful to the teams at Metro Bank and Lamb Brooks Solicitors who organised, and staffed, this successful evening.”

The success of Ark Cancer Centre Charity’s £5m appeal will ensure a range of support services and complementary therapies are available alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments.