A NONAGENARIAN from Aberystwyth has raised more than £800 for charity after taking part in a sponsored walk, writes David Lynch.

Bettina Collingwood, 95, of Maes Gogerddan walked five kilometres to raise money for WaterAid.

Miss Collingwood decided to celebrate her 95th birthday by asking for sponsorship towards her efforts from friends and family instead of presents.

She is still taking in sponsorship money and believes the total may extend beyond the £800 she has estimated she will collect.

She said: “I have been a donor to WaterAid for many years, and though it seems that there is not much we can do about major problems in the world like the war in Syria or North Korea, something simple we can do is giving people in desperate need a drink of water from a clean and pure source which doesn’t kill their children.“

Miss Collingwood’s walk took her from Aberystwyth bus station along Plascrug Avenue to the leisure centre. She repeated this route four times to make up the distance of 5km.

She was joined by her niece and several friends from Aberystwyth’s Slimming World group.

To train for her charity endeavour, Miss Collingwood practised the route a few days a week for three weeks before the sponsored walk.

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