TWO women have kicked-off a year of fundraising in memory of one of their friends.

Dee Lynes, from Pickering, and Shirley Brewer, from Scarborough, have started the whoopWHOOP! 2018 campaign to raise money for York Against Cancer.

The culmination of their campaign will be a prize draw and afternoon tea party to be held at the Talbot Hotel in Malton on September 16.

The plan came to them in the summer of last year.

Dee said: “We decided to spend a year raising money for York Against Cancer in memory of our friend Donna, who was truly inspiring.

“We wanted to show those people living among us with cancer and their families that they’re part of a wider family - the Yorkshire

family.

“Donna loved afternoon tea so we decided to do that on a big scale.”

The pair’s plan is for a 25-prize draw and afternoon tea party for 180 people.

Prizes have been donated from some of the biggest local businesses.

The first business the pair approached, Inntravel, offered the draw a three-night break to Prague for two.

Now the prize draw has 25 unique lots to be won. Other prize donations include artwork by Ryedale painters Robert E Fuller and Chris Geall, wine tasting and tour at Ryedale vineyards, a spa experience at the Feversham Arms, a cookery class for eight people with Gilly Robinson at Malton Cookery School - and much more.

Shirley and Dee are selling prize draw ticket online at whoopwhoop.uk or justgiving.com/whoopwhoop2018, but will also be selling them in person at forthcoming events such as the Malton Food Lovers’ Festival in the Spring.

In addition to the prize draw, the pair have started a Business Club for businesses to pledge to make a donation if 1,000 tickets are sold.

York Against Cancer provides support to people affected by cancer and their families in York, North and East Yorkshire, and funds cancer research.

For more information and to see a full list of prizes, to buy prize draw tickets, or to join the business club, go to whoopwhoop.uk

For tickets to the afternoon tea itself go to the Talbot Hotel website talbotmalton.co.uk