Local residents and businesses have been thanked for their help in raising £13,000 for local charities through the first Kenilworth Advent Calendar.

Rotary Club of Kenilworth invited supporters down to the Senior Citizens Club on Friday evening (February 24) to show their appreciation.

Representatives of Compassionate Kenilworth, The Waverly Centre, the Talisman Theatre, Myton Hospices and the Kenilworth Centre were also there to receive their £2,000 donation from the 3,000 calendars that were sold.

The rest of the money will be used by Rotary to fund local causes throughout the year.

Special certificates of appreciation were awarded to the businesses who contributed their skills, including Emmerson Press and Abstract Design who produced the calendar, and LoudLocal who designed and operated the dedicated website.

Certificates also went to the nine sponsors: Tree Wise Men, Succession Wealth, Damian Plant & Co, Hertz Electrical, Whiteleys Chartered Surveyors, Western Carpets, Design Decoration, LDP Luckmans and Boothroyd & Co.

All the businesses who donated one of the 120 prizes were also thanked.

Speaking on behalf of the organising team, Malcolm Matthews, this year's President of Kenilworth Rotary, announced there would be another Advent Calendar this year with an increased print run of 3,500 copies.

He said he hoped it would become a Kenilworth institution, as much a part of Kenilworth life as the Boxing Day Duck Race.

He appealed to locals to stay engaged: "It's a Kenilworth team effort.

"It can't be done without you."