A SWINDON canoe club has given £175 to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution after a sponsored paddle down the Thames.

Instead of canoes, 27 of the Swindon and District Canoe Club used lorry inner tubes for the two-mile trip from Inglesham Farm to Lechlade Park in June.

The club presented the cheque at Dorcan School recently.

The canoeists, aged seven to 70, took around two hours to complete the course.

Pete Kirk, club fundraiser, said: "It was one of the warmest days of the year. The sun shone all the way.

"We had a barbecue afterwards with ball games and had a great day out at Lechlade Park."

Mr Kirk said that he was very pleased with the amount raised.

He said: "The RNLI supplied us with sponsorship and we collected £350. We gave half of that to the RNLI and have use the other half to buy canoes and equipment for the club."