AN exercise club which raises money for charity has been handed a £1,000 boost.

Happy Hearts, which has clubs in Tiptree, Maldon, Wickham Bishops, Woodham Ferrers and Great Baddow, fundraises for the British Heart Foundation.

Set up in August this year the club for over 50s has already raised £1,600 for the foundation when it held a sponsored walk.

Now the group has been handed a £1,000 from Persimmon Homes Essex as part of the housebuilder’s Community Champions initiative.

Each month the builder donates up to £2,000 to charities and community groups within the county.

Lucy West, founder of Happy Hearts Exercise Fundraising Group, said: “We are extremely grateful to Persimmon Homes for this generous donation.

“We formed the group because we want to raise money for vital research which will support future generations.

“Every three minutes someone loses their life to heart and circulatory disease.

“We held our first event as an official fundraising group for the British Heart Foundation in October, a three-mile sponsored walk, and we raised more than £1,600. This donation from Persimmon is a real boost.”

Kim Oates, head of sales at Persimmon Homes Essex, added: “We’re delighted to be able to make this donation to this new local fundraising branch of The British Heart Foundation.

“Each month I look forward to studying all of the funding applications, but it’s always a very tough job picking the two winners as there are so many worthy candidates.

“We hope that this donation will give the new group a kick-start as they begin their fundraising efforts. The British Heart Foundation does some amazing work as every penny helps towards vital research.”