FUNDraising by Marlborough bobbies Richard Oakman and Mike Barrett, who are to walk part of the Great Wall of China in aid of the new Swindon hospital Evolution Appeal, has been given a £485 kickstart.

The money was raised on Saturday when Country Events of Henley, near Marlborough, held a charity day that included clay pigeon shooting, archery and air rifle shooting.

The day was organised to raise funds towards the £10,000 that PC Barrett and PC Oakman intend to raise for the Great Western Hospital Evolution Appeal to buy equipment for the hospital, where patients will move from Princess Margaret Hospital in November.

One of their Marlborough police station colleagues, Burbage area beat officer PC Gary Sears, had his eye in on the day and walked away with the top prize of a meal for two and a bottle of wine donated by Penny Simpson, the owner of The Angel Inn at Hindon.

Trekkers are supposed to raise a minimum £2,000 each for a charity of their choice but the two police officers have decided to aim high and have set their targets at £5,000 each.

PC Oakman, who has been based in Marlborough for five years and been in the Wiltshire force for ten, said: "We have to raise a minimum of £4,000 between us but as it is for such a good cause we have decided to go for £5,000 each."

Father-of-two PC Barrett, a policeman for eight years who has been in Marlborough for two, said he heard on local radio about the ten-day charity trek in September.

"When I heard it was in aid of the new hospital at Swindon, I thought we ought to do something for it," he said.