The first instalment of money raised as part of a year-long fundraising campaign by the Aberdeen office of construction company, Mansell, has been handed over at a unique presentation in the Granite City.

A total of £5,000, raised as part of the firm's centenary year fundraising drive, was presented to local charity, Friends of ANCHOR (Aberdeen and North Centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy), at Aberdeen University's state-of-the-art Matthew Hay building, which Mansell is currently constructing.

The money was raised by Mansell's adventurous Aberdeen staff tackling a number of sponsored walks - including at Loch Muick, Glas-allt and Lochnagar, with their efforts part of the company's campaign to raise £1m for a number of good causes throughout the UK this year.

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To mark the company reaching the incredible milestone of a century in business, each of its regional offices has adopted a local charity to raise money for. Its Aberdeen office is using 2008 to raise cash for Friends of ANCHOR, which was set up to support the ANCHOR unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary and to fund vital cancer research projects at the University of Aberdeen's Institute of Medical Science.

Mansell's Matthew Hay project's site manager, Dave Cruickshank, was also presented with a bottle of whisky on Monday for raising the highest individual amount of sponsorship for the walk - which he has pledged to raffle off to raise extra cash for the charity.

Doug Duncan, Mansell's business development manager, says he is delighted to see the Aberdeen team's efforts paying off and the first presentation of money being made.

He said: "It's fantastic to be able to assist such a worthwhile cause as Friends of ANCHOR, which carries out exceptional work, and we are extremely pleased to be able to present this first instalment of cash raised by Mansell staff in Aberdeen.

"It's also great to see Dave raffle off his hard-earned bottle of whisky - this simple gesture reflects the commitment to the fundraising campaign of our team in Aberdeen as we look to build on this early success and raise as much cash as possible during our centenary year."

(GK/JM)