Two friends in St Neots have raised more than £2,000 for the Ukrainian Red Cross appeal through a raffle hosted in one of their back gardens.

Tracy McCrystal came up with the idea and, with support from her friend Karen Corp, whose father was Ukrainian, attracted more than 50 people to the event on March 26 in Tracy's garden.

Prizes were donated from 52 local businesses, including trampoline park vouchers from the company Xtreme 360, and pizza was provided for guests free of charge by Domino's.

Tracy said: “The situation in Ukraine is so very devastating, and we wanted to show our support and help to raise funds.

"We were blown away by the support that came from across the St Neots community; from the huge levels of generosity shown from local businesses and in the hundreds of raffle tickets purchased both locally and in Scotland.”

Karen added: “Tracy and I have been friends for over 30 years, and being able to build this event with her was a wonderful act of remembrance for my Dad, and my wider Ukrainian heritage.

"We couldn’t have been greeted with any more positivity from those we approached to support the event, both locally and from my family in Scotland, and we are so very grateful.”