Ref. 755633-30 Spinning the discs Kathleen Aitken, manager of Swindon Mind, with Mandy Savory and Colleen Prendergast, who have organised a fundraising disco for the charityTWO women who have raised £16,000 over the past five years for charities that have touched their lives are turning their attention to Swindon Mind.

Colleen Prendergast, 52 and Mandy Savory, 51, both of Blunsdon, are throwing a disco at the Premier Club in Stratton to raise awareness of the charity that helps the mentally ill in Swindon. Tickets for the event in February have already sold out.

Mrs Prendergast said: "The tickets went like hotcakes. We've sold all 430 of them for £10 each, it's great."

Mrs Savory explained the reasoning behind choosing Mind.

"My mother suffered with mental illness so as a family we knew how difficult is was," she said.

"Mind is there to help people and because a lot of people are still frightened to talk about mental illnesses they don't even know it exists."

Mrs Prendergast, a property manager, said: "Mental illness is all too often pushed under the carpet and yet it is nothing to be ashamed of. We always like to pick charities that are close to us and Swindon Mind seemed like the right one.

"We hope to raise awareness of their work and ensure a lot more people know where they are situated and what help they can offer."

The pair got involved in fund raising after arranging a party one year for all their friends.

Mrs Prendergast said: "We enjoyed it so much we decided to make it yearly and use it to raise money for charity."

In the past the women have supported Macmillan Cancer Relief after Mrs Prendergast's brother died of cancer in 2003 and the Parkinson's Disease Society after Mandy's father suffered from the disease. And they make sure they rope in all their friends to help.

Mrs Prendergast said: "Our two local friends, who are musicians, Keith Miller and Roy George put on a fantastic disco to support us and Pete Cousins, another musician loans his precious equipment for the evening."

Local businesses also donate prizes to be raffled off on the night.

Mrs Prendergast said: "If it wasn't for all the wonderful local support it wouldn't happen."

Kathleen Aitken from Swindon Mind, Regent Circus, said: "We're thrilled that they have chosen us. The money will be fantastic and will make a tremendous difference to our organisation. "

"The event will also raise awareness of what we do which can be difficult for us because people generally don't want to hear about mental health."

Gareth Bethell