George Huntly Wells, from Galashiels, raised a fabulous £2,204 for Maggie’s Edinburgh by taking part in the Great North Run. He presented the cheque to the innovative charity’s fundraising co-ordinator, Marion Taylor, on Monday, February 11.

The sum of money raised came from various supporters throughout the community including, George’s fellow bobbies from Lothian and Borders Police Force. Furthermore, donations came from many churches, including George’s mother and father’s (Zena and George) church – Caddanfoot; George’s brother’s (John) church – Roslin; and Glencorse and Bilston church.

The money raised will go a great way towards helping Maggie’s Edinburgh to continue to provide emotional and psychological support and practical information to people with cancer and their friends and family at their Centre at the Western General Hospital.

The relationship between Maggie’s and George began three and a half years ago when George was diagnosed with throat cancer.

George, of Galashiels, said: “Maggie’s helped me through that difficult time of my life. Travelling up from the Borders for treatment could be tiring but having a place like Maggie’s to go to gave me the strength through my treatment.

“I still have regular check ups at the hospital and always try and make a visit to Maggie’s when I am in Edinburgh.

“I decided to start training just over a year ago and with the support of family, friends and work colleagues I decided to give myself the challenge of running the Great North Run and at the same time give something back to Maggie’s.”

Fundraising Co-ordinator for Maggie’s Edinburgh, Marion Taylor, was on hand on Friday to collect the cheque.  She said: “This is a fantastic amount to raise with a lot of hard work going into collecting all the sponsorship from the various supporters.

“I would like to thank everyone, from George and his family to his work colleagues at Lothian and Borders Police to the churches for supporting Maggie's. At Maggie's we rely on public donations and therefore fundraising events like this help us support the 18,000 visitors we have a year who come through the doors at the Edinburgh Centre."