BIG-HEARTED fundraisers from the county have helped raised thousands of pounds as they went the extra mile to support this year’s Sport Relief appeal.

Whether they donned silly costumes, took part in bike rides or the Sport Relief Mile, thousands of people joined forces for the worthy cause which helps those in need here and abroad.

The sun beamed down on the hundreds of runners who lined-up at the start line at Ipswich Waterfront and at Grange Community Primary School in Felixstowe eagerly awaiting the Sport Relief Mile.

Felixstowe and District Council for Sport and Recreation teamed up with Felixstowe Road Runners to organise the resort’s first Sport Relief Mile event which saw around 70 people aged from just three up to 78 take part.

Council chairman Michael Sharman said: “It was even more of a special occasion with it being Olympic year but it was a real family event with whole families taking part and relatives and friends cheering on from the sidelines.

“We’d like to thank the headteacher at Grange Community Primary School for allowing us to use the school field as it was the only school in Suffolk to host a Sport Relief Mile event.”

As one of the main sponsors, Sainsbury’s raised cash through a series of activities at its stores in Ipswich.

At the Hadleigh Road store staff donned sports gear, cycled in store, held table top sales and bucket collections and some of the workers took part in the Sport Relief Mile along the Waterfront.

Meanwhile at the Warren Heath branch there was a raffle, fancy dress costume and staff took part in a sponsored bike ride to Felixstowe and back.

A Sainsbury’s spokesman for the store in Warren Heath said it was estimated the bike ride raised around �700 but the store’s final figure is not yet known.

For every Star sold in Sainsbury’s in Warren Heath, Hadleigh Road and Upper Brook Street, the supermarket giant donated 45p to Sport Relief.

Schoolchildren also dug deep for the cause with pupils at Halifax Primary School in Prince of Wales Drive taking part in a sponsored skipathon and each pupil skipped for six minutes.

At Shotley Community Primary School, youngsters designed and created their own hobby horses before participating in a gymkhana event with showjumping and dressage events.

At UK Power Networks in Fore Hamlet employees took part in a dress down day with a sporty theme.

Staff competed at Wii tennis and bowling and the champion of the long distance paper toss which helped them raise �420.

Louise Hetherington, from UK Power Networks, said: “It is a brilliant opportunity to raise money for charity and was a lot of fun.”

Teams at the Willis Group competed in an egg and spoon race around the office and held a Sport Relief Bake Off.

Ten members of staff at Archant Suffolk have been taking part in a Masterbake contest for the past three weeks and raised around �200 for the charity appeal.

n What did you do for this year’s Sport Relief? Send us your stories and pictures to www.iwitness24.co.uk or starnews@archant.co.uk