A grand total of £57,000 raised by walkers has been handed over to the county’s hospices.

The money was the proceeds of this year’s Charity Walk, organised by brewers Shepherd Neame and the owners of this website the KM Group, which was held in Charing, near Ashford, earlier this year.

Presenting the cheques of just over £5,000 each in the boardroom at Shepherd Neame’s headquarters in Faversham, chief executive Jonathan Neame said: "I was one of the first out on this year’s walk, an event we have been running for 13 years.

"With the current economic conditions, the amount we collect has started to tail off so we probably need to find a new way to raise money as Shepherd Neame and the KM Group are hugely supportive of the hospice movement.

"We need to reach out to new audiences and be as creative as possible to attract new funds."

The hospices to benefit from the walk were the Pilgrims Hospices in Canterbury, Ashford and Thanet, Demelza House in Sittingbourne, the Ellenor Hospice in Dartford, Harris HospisCare in Orpington, the Heart of Kent Hospice in Aylesford, the Hospice of the Weald in Pembury, St Christopher’s Hospice in Sydenham, the Wisdom Hospice in Rochester and the Lions Hospice in Gravesend.

KM Group chairman Geraldine Allinson said: "I want to say thank you to the hospices for the great work you do for families and the communities who live in the areas in which you operate."