A FANTASTIC £9,000 has been raised for five charities chosen by Wolfscastle's Belle Curran and her family.

Spittal School pupil Belle was born interstitial lung disease. This rare condition means that Belle's lungs, rather than being spongy, are stiff, hard and scarred making breathing a huge effort. Belle has been on the emergency transplant list for a double lung transplant at Great Ormond Street Hospital for over 15 months.

Belle's mum, Stella, is a member of Haverfordwest Ladies Circle and this year the circle has taken part in a trio of physically demanding challenges to raise money for the charities that have helped ten-year-old Belle so much.

These are Puffin Ward, Withybush Hospital; Noah's Ark Children's Hospital, Cardiff; Great Ormond Street Heart and Lungs; Ty Hafan Children's Hospice and Make A Wish.

"We are so lucky to have these amazing places and people to help us through the difficult times and celebrate the happy times," wrote Stella.

"This is why Belle decided to give any money raised this year in her honour to these super awesome organisations.

"These charities have helped her, supported her, cared for her, spoilt her, made her laugh and wiped away our tears."

The determined Ladies Circle, supported by dedicated friends and family members, began their Tri Challenge in July, by participating in the Velothon Wales cycling race in and around Cardiff.

On October 7, eighteen runners from the group revisited the streets of the capital, this time on foot, as they completed the Cardiff Half Marathon.

The plucky, amateur athletes also spent four afternoons cycling and running on machines at Tesco Haverfordwest, collecting donations and encouraging shoppers to talk about organ donation.

Finally, on October 21 a massive group of 31 ladies, men and children abseiled down the keep at Pembroke Castle.

The afternoon was video-streamed live on Facebook for Belle who had been set to complete this part of the challenge herself but was unfortunately being treated for parainfluenza at the high dependency unit at Noah's Ark Hospital. Belle has since recovered from the virus and looks forward to doing the abseil next year.

A staggering £9,164 has been raised for Belle's charities over the last four months, this has been generated by a Go Fund Me page, cash sponsorship, the Tesco collection and other individual acts of athleticism.

This amount will be added to the running total that will hopefully exceed £20,000 by April 2019.

"I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying leading the ladies this year in our fundraising efforts for a cause so close to my heart," said Ladies Circle chairman Mandy Stirling.

" I have made it my mission to organize a range of exciting and fun activities and the positivity from everyone involved has been overwhelming and makes all the hard work worthwhile"

"I am just so proud of everyone who has taken part in the Team Belle Tri Challenge. Not only have we raised an amazing amount of money for a fabulous cause but we have had so much fun doing so - new friendships have been made and challenges beyond some of our wildest dreams have been achieved.

"We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and support shown towards the cause and we really hope that it has helped to trigger off discussions about organ donation amongst families."

The Ladies Circle currently has a Give So Others Can Live 2019 Calendar for sale, aiming to prompt people to talk about their organ donation. This is available from Vincent Davies, Victoria Bookshop or online at peachypackages.co.uk.