A CHARITY stalwart who has raised £25,000 in the last year has scooped an accolade from her employer.Andrea Wedgwood, section manager in the staff services department at the Marks & Spencer store in Ipswich, was runner-up in M&S's Best Fundraiser Awards 2007 for her volunteering efforts on the Sproughton Playing Fields Committee.

A CHARITY stalwart who has raised £25,000 in the last year has scooped an accolade from her employer.

Andrea Wedgwood, section manager in the staff services department at the Marks & Spencer store in Ipswich, was runner-up in M&S's Best Fundraiser Awards 2007 for her volunteering efforts on the Sproughton Playing Fields Committee.

The awards celebrate the achievements of staff who volunteer and fundraise inside and outside work.

Her fundraising efforts have included running the London Marathon last year, and she has set up a special committee and gathered support from the council as well as advice from business, schools and parents in her efforts to rejuvenate the play area at Sproughton Playing Fields.

“I am delighted to have been runner up in this award, but most of all it's very satisfying to know that I have helped make a difference to the lives of others and give something back to a community area where I once played as a child,” she said.

Store manager Kerry Soar described Ms Wedgwood as “an inspiration to us all”.