ALTON WATER was bathed in sunshine as fundraisers joined the annual Spring Walk to drum up cash for charity.

ALTON WATER was bathed in sunshine as fundraisers joined the annual Spring Walk to drum up cash for charity.

Participants strolled, cycled, walked and ran for their chosen cause on Sunday morning, raising a total of nearly �2,500 on the day.

The Rotary Club of Ipswich Orwell organised the Spring Walk, which has grown in popularity since moving from September to April on the calendar.

Around 50 people made their way around the eight mile course, having collected sponsorship money for a number of funds, including Ipswich's two hospices.

Friends Wayne Clarke and Nick Loose completed three laps of Alton Water for Leukaemia and clocked up the equivalent distance of the London Marathon, held on the same day.

A third of the money raised by all walkers went to the Rotary Club for their chosen charity of the year.

Organiser John Field said: “It went very well indeed. The weather was superb and we had a good turn out of walkers.

“Everyone had a smile on their face and raised money for charity so it must be deemed a great success.”

Gordon Kember, chair of the Rotary Club's community service committee, said: “It was important for us to move the walk from the autumn because it has given us a bit of a boost. I hope it will become an increasingly strong event for us.”