Pictured above: ROMAN WAY - Mansell's Andy Price and Dean Howard present the charity cash to Janet Jones, watched by Teresa Belt and Anna Clarke.

An It's a Knockout tournament organised by Mansell has raised a charity bonanza of nearly £17,000 for the Mary Stevens Hospice.

The team from Mansell's Stourbridge-based Western region - in their traditional dress as Roman centurions - raised the cash at the event at Stourbridge Rugby Club. They were supported by teams from Mansell specialist contractors and consultants. 

Events included Chicken Run, the Slippery Slope, the Great Escape, Human Demolition, Pinball Wizard and Walk the Plank. The winning team was the Classic Cheetahs from Classic Roofing in Walsall.   

Their fund-raising achievements, combined with other efforts by Mansell staff including a charity relay race across the UK, a dragon boat race, dress-down days, charity walks and selling hand made greetings cards, meant that Mary Stevens Hospice was presented with a cheque for £16,876. The cash was handed over to the hospice fund-raising manager Janet Jones by Andy Price and Dean Howard of Mansell.

Janet Jones said, "We are so grateful to Mansell for their outstanding donation of almost £17,000. This is such an achievement and will make a real difference to our fund-raising drive. Our thanks go out to management, staff and suppliers who supported the fund-raising initiatives and who hopefully had a great deal of fun at the same time. We look forward to a continued relationship with Mansell in the future."

As part of a year-long fund-raising drive to mark the company's 100th anniversary, Mansell's charity fund raising efforts by its Stourbridge office raised more than £66,000 in 2008. Nationally the firm raised £1 million. As well as Mary Stevens Hospice, money has been handed over to BID Services, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Support Dudley and the Fire Fighters Charity.