BIG-HEARTED staff at an antiques firm near York have raised £7,000 to help people suffering needlessly from blindness.

The sum was raised for charity Sight Savers International by eight members of staff from Tomlinsons Furniture, an international antiques business, based in Tockwith, who ran in the Great North Run, and through fundraising from customers.

Company director Jim McMahon said heavy-smoking colleagues Eddie Richmond and Alex Telford had to step in at the last minute to take part in the famous half-marathon without any training after he and warehouse manager Andy Hunter became stranded in America following the September 11 disaster, which stopped all flights.

The ill-prepared substitutes joined Joel Simpson, Peter Johnson, Chris Kevane, Jim's wife, Carolyn, Robert Kirkley and Alan Joicey for the race and finished in respectable times.

Sight Savers regional organiser Mike Beardsley, who was presented with the money, said: "The kind of genuine, enthusiastic interest and commitment that Tomlinsons have shown towards the project, and particularly towards the people in the developing world that are suffering needlessly with blindness who will now benefit because of their efforts, is an example to all of us."

Eighty per cent of blindness is either preventable or curable and Sight Savers International works in poorer countries around the world where people's sight can be saved, often for just a few pounds.

Anyone who would like to help Sight Savers should call Mike Beardsley on 01274 775231 or visit the Sight Savers website on www.sightsavers.org

Updated: 10:28 Friday, November 23, 2001