A GROUP of friends has completed 16 hours of non-stop golf to raise money for a cancer charity in memory of a late friend.

The 'Shiny Pound Group' took to the greens at Ulverston Golf Club in memory of Steve Milby, who set the group up more than 25 years ago and lost his life to cancer.

The group completed 72 holes of golf (four straight rounds of the course) beginning at 5:25am and playing through to 9:05pm.

The team covered 17 miles and raised almost £6,000 including gift aid for MacMillan Cancer.

Michael Armstrong, a member of the group, said: “It went well. It was a long day but was all worth it for a worthy cause.

“We are chuffed to bits with how the day went and how much we’ve raised.

“Steve’s family came up and we all enjoyed a couple of drinks together. I said a few words and Steve’s daughter Claire thanked us all.

“It was topped off by Shiny Pound beating Shiny Pound 1 3-1.

“Shiny pound was a big thing for Steve as he started the group so it was a really nice feeling but at the end of the day it was all about taking part, having fun and raising money.”

As well as Mr Armstrong; Michael Brown; Mark Moore; Philip Dickinson; Paul Steur; Darren Postlethwaite; David Burch; Keith Howson, Dave Sharp, Neil Robb and John Rodgers will complete the whole challenge, while Colin McArthur; Paul Leech; Andrew Stephenson; and Philip Garner will fill in for the eighth man for a round each.

Also joining them was Steve’s grandson Patrick Kelly.

Mr Armstrong said: “It was a very emotional day, especially for Ruth (Steve’s wife) and family, it was emotional for us too.

“We didn’t get to see him much because of Covid. It was really sad but we are glad to have done this in his memory. He started the shiny pound saying, always winding everyone up so that’s why we called it that.

“Cancer is massive now and the older we get the more in our face it is.

“We are all chuffed to bits for doing it, we have no regrets.

“We are really pleased that lots of people donated. We had over 60 people donate, and we will have money coming in.

“We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for their donations, it wouldn’t have been worth doing without them.”