STAFF at TSB in Aberystwyth have handed over a cheque to a local charity after a year of events saw them smash their £1,000 fund­raising goal.

The branch made Hospice at Home Aberystwyth Volunteering (HAVAV) its charity of the year and began raising money in October 2016, with the target goal of raising £1,000 by October last year.

The branch ended up raising over £1,600 through a series of events.

The team had already beaten their target before the last two events – a bake-off day, and manager Emlyn Mainwaring and mortgage advisor Andrew Palk taking on the Cardiff Half Marathon.

This week, Mr Mainwaring handed over the cheque to HAVAV for £1,601.11.

The branch has now decided to make HAVAV its charity of the year again this year, with plans already in place to begin fund­raising and repeat the success.

During the Six Nations rugby tournament, staff will be taking on a step challenge – aiming to complete 77,500 steps as a branch per day with a target of over 3.2m steps over the course of the 42-day tournament.

A St David’s Day celebration has also been planned in the branch for 1 March.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday