A MILITARY charity has benefited from a £3,000 donation this week.

The Michelle Jurd Memorial Trust, based in Grange, provided the donation to the RAF Benevolent Fund.

The charity was founded in 2010 by Neil Jurd, after the death of his wife Michelle the previous year.

He said: "We go back quite a long way now.

"Michelle died in 2009 and, following that, we started a charity to support military charities and also to encourage adventurous activities for schoolchildren.

"We've been doing that ever since and this will be the seventh year of our work."

Their latest donation will go towards helping serving and former members of the RAF, as well as their families.

Michelle Jurd was an RAF Squadron Leader who had served in Kosovo, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

On Wednesday, Neil, along with the couple's daughters Matilda, 12, and Elsa, nine, met with Wing Commander Mark Quinn of the fund to find out more about their work and present a cheque for £3,000.

Wing Commander Quinn served with and flew alongside Michelle when she was a serving officer.

Mr Judd said: "The RAF Benevolent Fund does a lot of great things for service people, like providing supportive housing and grants to convert houses for disabled service people.

"It's a great charity and the RAF is so important.

"They are a big charity supporting a lot of people, but they need a lot of support."

The charity mainly raise their funds through the Michelle Jurd Memorial Ball, held annually in the Netherwood Hotel in Grange.

They have previously also ran other fundraising events, such as cross bay walks.

To date, the charity has raised over £100,000.

Mr Judd said: "I wanted to do the ball in her memory that first year but it was so successful we've decided to carry it on ever since.

"It sounds easy but it really isn't."