A TEAM of fundraisers could be seen frantically rowing in Bournemouth town centre as they raised £3,000 for an ailing charity.

The energetic participants took to the fitness machines in Bournemouth Square in hot conditions at 9.30am on Friday and continued until the evening in a bid to help the Dorset Blind Association, which operates support groups for blind people of working age in Poole, Bournemouth and Weymouth.

As well as two partially sighted teams competing against each other, a number of employees of businesses from the area also took part in the team 10km challenge.

Fundraising manager Jaya Da Costa said she was delighted with efforts of those that turned out, in particular Lidl’s Brian Hampton who rowed the distance solo and still managed to win.

“He did it by accident last year – but this year he has come back and managed to do it all over again,” she added.

“The money we are raising at the moment is particularly important since we lost our lottery funding and have no other financial support.

“The people it will be used to help tend to feel isolated and this money will make a real difference.”

Members of the public were also invited to challenge Olympic standard rower Simon Banwell in a 250m sprint.

Simon clocked up an impressive time of 37 seconds, with one challenger coming close with a time of 35 seconds.

Free sports massages were provided for all of the competitors by Body in Motion and there was also face painting on offer for children and a raffle.