A LONG-STANDING charitable community group has made donations to a selection of local people in a bid to help them and improve their lives.

Tranent Belters has donated £200 to Trudie Murphy, a mum of four from the town who is trying to raise £80,000 for potentially life-saving treatment after she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour in July.

Douglas Robertson, the group’s vice-chairman and Tranent DJ and fundraiser Davie Martin then presented a mobility scooter to Jim Hunter, a local man who has emphysema, damage to the air sacs in his lungs, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the name given to a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties which includes emphysema.

Davie described the scooter as “a more suitable buggy for his needs”.

The scooter was gifted to Tranent Belters by the family of the family of the late Alan Stevenson, who died on August 2 from a heart attack that led to organ failure.

Jim was in hospital at the time the scooter was gifted to him but his sister Margaret was on hand to receive it on his behalf.

At the same time Margaret donated £100 from Jim to the Belters Charity Fund, something the group’s secretary Alex Borthwick described as “a great gesture”.

Later that day Douglas and Davie presented another much-needed mobility scooter to Paula Couch, a Tranent resident who has lupus, a condition that causes inflammation to the joints, skin and other organs, fibromyalgia, a condition that causes pain all over the body, and hyper mobility.

The scooter she was presented with was gifted to Tranent Belters by the family of the late Scott Glynn, another Tranent resident who founded the Walk With Scott Foundation.

Both Jim and Paula are said to be delighted and grateful for the gift of the scooters as it will enable them to get out and about more and more easily.

Alex added: “The Belters would like to thank the Stevenson and Glynn families for this kind gesture and it just shows what a wonderful community spirit we have in Tranent.”

The group also had its AGM earlier this month and elected its officials for the next year.

Jim Thomson agreed to stay on as chairman, Douglas as vice-chairman, Paul Borthwick as treasurer and Alex as secretary.