A FAMILY who raised £18,000 for two cancer charities with a hog roast and auction have thanked all those who helped to make the event such a success.

Les and Tina Race, of Welbury, near Northallerton staged the "C it off" event in a marquee at their home in July.

They decided to hold a fundraiser after three close family members were diagnosed with cancer.

The event was attended by 540 people, and included live and silent auctions, a raffle, hog roast, live music and a disco.

Auction lots included several holidays, a trip down Boulby Potash Mine, and a wooden mirror frame handmade in Australia by their daughter Nicky.

A total of £18,000 was raised, which was split equally between Yorkshire Cancer Research and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Mr and Mrs Race were joined by representatives of the two charities at the field next to their home where the event took place to hand over the money.

Mrs Race said: "We just want to say a huge thank-you to all the businesses, family, friends and local people who supported us in putting on the event.

"Without their help we wouldn't have raised anywhere near this amount of money."

Lindsay Kay, Tees Valley fundraising manager for Macmillan Cancer Support, said the money would go towards supporting Macmillan services in the local area, including at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, where there is an information and support centre for cancer patients and their families.

She said: "I've been in fundraising for about 15 years and we hardly ever get a donation of this size - it's tremendous."

Representatives from the Yorkshire Cancer Research shop in Northallerton said it was the largest donation from a single event they had ever received.

Alan Dandy, branch chairman, said: "We must say a great thank-you to Tina and Les for all their hard work."

The money will go towards cancer research being carried out at Yorkshire universities.