A charity golf day in memory of an Ongar man who died of a rare form of leukaemia has delighted organisers by raising over £1,000 more than they initially hoped for.

Kettlebury Way resident John Collins, who was 58 when he died in November, had himself helped to raise thousands of pounds for different charities as part of his involvement in the Ongar Round Table and - later - the Ongar 41 Club.

As a keen golfer, he had played regularly at the Burstead Golf Club near Billericay, where his golfing partner had been fellow Ongar 41 Club member Wilf McLean.

Mr McLean, who organised the memorial event in aid of the Leukaemia Research Fund (LRF), reported that it had been fully booked by 122 golfers competing as teams and individuals.

In the event, Mr McLean said, the total amount raised had topped £3,800 - with other fundraising events on the day including a tombola, a chipping contest and a putting contest.

Mr McLean said: "It was an excellent day. We hadn't anticipated it would go so well. We had an absolutely magnificent day's weather and the tombola was incredibly successful - we didn't have to buy a single prize."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.