A PARTIALLY-SIGHTED man has managed to raise £1,000 for a Borders charity.

Allen Turner, decided to take the Punch Bag Challenge to raise some much-needed funds for the Borders Talking Newspapers (BTN).

Allen, who is a wheelchair user, used to use the charity, which provides audio clips of articles from local newspapers.

And after visiting the Gala Boxing Club as part of his exercise regime at the Dialysis Unit at Borders General Hospital, he decided to take the agility test.

During the challenge, he hit the bag 307 times and the money he raised has allowed the group to buy some new zipped plastic wallets, to make it easier for users of the service.

BTN Manager, Wendy Moss, said: “We were delighted to receive this donation which allowed us to buy the badly needed new wallets.

“On behalf of our listeners and volunteers, I would like to thank everyone involved in raising this fantastic sum for us: Allen Turner of course; Danny Kelly, secretary of Galashiels Boxing Club who hosted the event and donated £100; Jane Chalmers a staff nurse at the Borders Dialysis Unit; Beth Noble, the health and physical activity development officer at Live Borders; personal trainer Callie Johnstone and Dana Wilson who ran the fundraising cake stall.”

Borders Talking Newspapers’ volunteers provide a weekly audio digest of the local papers in the Central and Eastern Borders. 

Anyone who is interested in finding out more about volunteering, would like to receive the talking newspaper, or would like a full list of prizewinners should contact Wendy on 01361 884206 or office@btn.org.uk.