AFTER nearly 40 years of fundraising for local charities a Penarth group has decided to call it a day.

Since Albert Road Keep Fit Club was set up in 1976 members have raised more than £80,000 for local charities, funding guide dogs for the blind and life-changing operations for children that struggled to walk independently.

But due to falling membership the group, which was originally an exercise class before concentrating on fundraising through monthly tabletop sales, has decided to finish its charitable work.

Sheila Evans, who has been the organiser and secretary of the club for the last nine years, said that it was Ann Mules’ decision to set up the keep fit club and start doing charity work in 1976.

Ann Mules went on to be awarded an MBE for her charity work and her services to the people of Penarth in 2002, before she died at the age of 72 April 2010.

One of the group’s first, and highest fundraising activities, was a sponsored walk.

“We walked from Barry Island to Penarth and raised more than £2,000 for the Guide Dogs charity,” said Shelia.

“We also started doing the floats in the Penarth Summer Festival Carnival.

“Once we did a float the Round Table and everyone else got involved.

“In 2000 we decided to call it a day as we were all getting a bit old to climb up the ladders, and when we stopped so did everyone else.”

Sheila, who recently celebrated her 80th birthday, added that when the group was first set up it had a strong membership, but over time it had dwindled to around 12.

“We are going to miss it as it’s a social afternoon and everyone would come and see us to have a chat over a cup of tea,” she said.

“We are still going to meet up, but we won’t be doing the tabletop sales anymore.”

Over the years the club, which raised money through monthly tabletop sales at the Albert Road Hall in Penarth, had supported a number of local causes.

Sheila, of Coleridge Avenue, added: “We didn’t donate to the big charities, but instead concentrated on the little ones.

“One year the Penarth Live at Home Scheme wanted a new dishwasher, so we gave them money towards that.”

The group also funded two local girls, Elodie Wilton and Evie Broad, to have the pioneering Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) operation in America. The life-changing operation allowed both young girls to walk independently, as they had both suffered from mobility problems caused by forms of cerebral palsy.

Albert Road Keep Fit Club is now planning on making its last donation to the family of five-year-old Kayla Mullen, so that she can have a £40,000 operation in a bid to improve her mobility too.

Kayla’s family recently featured in the Penarth Times after they raised more than £11,000 in just three months.

To donate towards Jayla’s Fund go to at www.justgiving.com/Jaylasfundmywish