A DARLINGTON charity has raised over £4,400 to take five children with disabilities on a pilgrimage to southwest France.

Hosanna House and Children’s Pilgrimage Trust (HCPT) Darlington groups held a series of events including coffee mornings and a curry night to get the money together to fund a trip to Lourdes, in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains.

HCPT Group 195 leader, Claire Woolley, said a trip to Lourdes – the site of a famous healing shrine – allowed the youngsters to gain confidence and boost their self-esteem.

Throughout the week-long pilgrimage, children are involved in various day trips and the group decorate a candle by writing on it the name of a person they would like to pray for at the shrine.

Mrs Woolley said: “The Darlington groups were founded in 2012 and first travelled in 2013.

“Since then we have taken 25 children aged eight to 18 and have had more than 25 adult helpers.”

It was Clare Maddison, the founder of Group 195, who had travelled with another party and felt there was a need for the Darlington group to become part of the UK HCPT charity.