A WEYMOUTH charity that supports local veterans and their families has been given a boost thanks to fundraising from a women's running club.

Dorset Sole Sisters has managed to raise £300 for the Veterans Hub over the past year by completing a variety of running challenges.

The club is exclusively for women and is based in Dorchester and Weymouth. The group currently has about 60 members and welcomes any woman, no matter their age or ability, to join them.

Every year the group selects a charity to raise money for. This year the Veterans Hub was nominated by club member Caroline Schofield.

She said: "The money was raised through a year of challenges which started in January. The challenges could be anything, including 'run through a shop'.

"We've had ones where we volunteer at a race or have to run more than ten miles as well.

"It's more than just the running, we want to give it that that social side so it has another element because it makes it more inclusive."

Ms Schofield nominated the Veterans Hub for this year's charity because she is a veteran herself, after serving for seven years in the Army, serving in Hong Kong, Germany and Northern Ireland.

She said: "We think that what they are trying to achieve here for mental health and veterans is in the lime light now thanks to them."

Lisa Rushby-Williams, co-director of the Veterans Hub, said: "This is amazing. Every penny that gets raised and donated allows us to keep this place going.

"It would leave a huge hole in people's lives if the Hub wasn't here so the fact that the community has been so supportive of us is huge for veterans and their families.

"There is a huge veteran community in this area after the Navy base closed and there's the Army base at Bovington so this place is so important to this area.

"The fact that those girls thought of us to be their chosen charity just means so much to us and all of those families. We can't thank them enough."