AN archery club is on target when it comes to raising hundreds of pounds for good causes.

Each year the Thirsk Bowmen Club selects a different charity to support and this year it has been the turn of the Robert Ogden Macmillan Unit at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton to benefit.

Club members took part in three main fundraising events; the annual dinner, a charity day and a collection at Thirsk Tesco last month which raised a combined total of £1,300 for Macmillan.

Club chairman Ken Billings was delighted with the amount, saying: “We are very pleased, it is the best we have ever done.

“It is a popular charity because a lot of people are touched by it.

“The people at Tesco were ever so generous, they were just chucking money into the bucket, we would like to go back and do a bag pack because it is really generous of them.”

The landmark fundraising amount comes during a special year for the Bowmen as they are celebrating their silver jubilee.

The original club dates back hundreds of years, but it reformed in its current incarnation 25-years-ago and still has an original member from its 1994 founding.

The club shoots at Baldersby Park just outside Thirsk and takes part in various competitions around the country and further afield.

It boasts more than100 members and this year three of them went on an epic self-funded global trip, competing in places as far afield as Las Vegas, China and Luxembourg.

The Bowmen are open to all and also cater for disabled people thanks to a donation last year from MD Mobility in Northallerton which provided a free wheelchair to the club for members who need assistance or if anyone gets taken ill on the field.

The club has its annual general meeting next month where it will choose a new charity to support.

It will also launch its beginners courses in September where new members can learn the basics.

Anyone interested in joining the club can visit thirskbowmen.org.uk