GUESTS raised more than £3,000 for disadvantaged children across the county at a charity event in Worcester.

One hundred and twenty people turned up for an evening of racing-themed activities in the Graeme Hick Pavilion to raise money for the Wooden Spoon, a rugby charity which funds projects for disadvantaged children.

Laura Bligh, chief organiser of the event, said: “Raising £3,300 was beyond our expectations but very importantly everyone had a fantastic time and have already asked us to repeat the event next year.”

The evening comprised of eight races on screen, tote betting, food, a raffle and an auction for the horses in the final race.

Vince Hopkins, from the Wooden Spoon, said: “We are always hosting these kinds of events and the last one we hosted raised £2,000 so it is great to go bigger each time.

“Everytime we do one of these events we sit around and have a good think about what we want to do.

“We thought of doing a race night because there are so many charity events every week and they all do golf days and sports evenings.

“We like to do charity projects rather than just donations, that way it is tangible and you can see the difference the money makes to the children we help.”

The Wooden Spoon was established in 1983 when five England supporters were presented with a wooden spoon wrapped in an Irish scarf after England’s shambolic performance at the Five Nations Rugby Championship.

After this the group, which included Wooden Spoon’s now-president Peter Scott, decided to hold a golf match to see who would have the honour of keeping the gift.

The money raised from that event went towards paying for a new minibus for a local special needs school.

Since then the Wooden Spoon has distributed more than £26 million and helped more than a million children across the country.

Earlier this year, the Wooden Spoon supported the funding of an outdoor classroom for Riverside School in Worcester.