TAVISTOCK Muscular Dystrophy Group are absolutely delighted with fundraising efforts on their behalf made by St Andrew's School in Buckland Monachorum.

The school presented the charity with a a bumper cheque for £1,267.95 at their assembly on Friday week.

The school chose muscular dystrophy as their charity for 2010 and raised the superb sum for Tavistock MD Group's respite holiday project for young people with the disease.

MD is a muscle-wasting disease, which in it's extreme form, leads to a short life expectancy — late teens and early 20s — and the need to use a wheelchair from the age of ten.

Alison Carreck, the chairman of Tavistock MD group and co-organiser for their annual respite holiday for young people with MD, told the Times: 'We were delighted to hear that St Andrew's Primary School had chosen us as their charity for the year — and even more delighted to learn how much they had raised!

'What a wonderful achievement,we are so impressed by the many activities the children organised.

'We are very grateful for their efforts, together with their teachers and families.'

For more than 40 years the Tavistock branch has organised a holiday for young people suffering from MD.

Volunteers from the town act as helpers to around 15 guests from around Devon and Cornwall. The 2010 holiday was to Alton in Hampshire, which was not only good fun for the children but, at the same time, gave their parents and carers a well earned break.

Fundraising events include science workshops for the children set up by MD's director of medical research, Dr Marita Pohlschmidt as well as sponsored walks, mufti-days, fancy dress days, selling craft and baking and food produce, firework themed hat day, and DVD sales from a school Shakesperean production.

The school also sent a further £700 to the National Muscular Dystrophy Campaign to help with their research work — making a total for 2010, an excellent £2,000.