A GENEROUS couple have decided to mark their 50th wedding anniversary by asking family and friends to donate to charity.

Former Newton Aycliffe councillor Vince Crosby and his wife Joan decided to ask for any money that would have been spent on gifts, to go to the Butterwick Hospice.

The couple, of Spennymoor, are celebrating their golden wedding on October 8 after originally meeting at a dance at Spennymoor Town Hall.

They were married at St. Charles Church, in Spennymoor, in 1966 and went on to have two sons Kevin and Michael, and now have three grandchildren.

The money raised will assist the hospice which requires £2,800 each and every day of the year to cover essential costs.

Mr Crosby said it had been his wife’s idea to donate to the charity after her brother spent his final days at the hospice in Bishop Auckland.

“My wife is very passionate about Butterwick Hospice so anyone who wants to make a donation can make it to them,” he said.