MEMBERS of a Chepstow fitness club have raised hundreds of pounds for a local community group which will go towards buying sleeping bags for the vulnerable.

During the course of 2017 Chepstow Community Fit Club, which meets twice a week at Chepstow Rugby Football Club, took donations from its members for participation (a minimum of £1).

By the end of the year they had raised £900.76, which was presented to Chepstow-based group Street Life Sarnies on Sunday 17th December.

The donation will be used to purchase 65 waterproof, minus conditions three season sleeping bags which will be distributed to rough sleepers and family homeless hostels across South Wales and Bristol.

Families staying in hostels often receive nothing but a roof over their head when it comes to support and rough sleepers can have even less.

So these sleeping bags are vital resources and will be appreciated during the winter months.

Anthony Thompson, who runs the fitness club, wanted the club to contribute to the community in a number of ways.

He said: “The inspiration for the club was born out of similar clubs that were being run across my network marketing business.

“So I thought if there are other people across the world doing this, what’s stopping me?

“From the outset, my ambition was to add value to the community, therefore I believed the way to maximise this was to make it affordable, hence the £1 minimum donation and to give it back to the community, and so it became Chepstow Community Fit Club.

“Last year we made a donation to the Alzheimer’s home in Chepstow.

“This year we had more money and this year I asked the club for recommendations and we all felt strongly, that SLS was an organisation where the money would be put to good use immediately.”