A BUILDING Society employee has raised thousands of pounds for charity after pounding the streets of New York.

Carol Durn collected nearly three thousand pounds in the name of charity through her fundraising exploits.

She raised £1,460 for the Prospect Hospice and another £1,300 for the national hospice charity, Help The Hospices.

"I raised the money through a variety of ways," said Carol, who works at the building society's branch in Regent Street.

"We got sponsorship from Nationwide and colleagues all over Swindon.

"Customers at the branch chipped in and we had collecting tins at the counters, alongside car boot sales, book sales and raffles.

"It all started when me and a few colleagues took part in the London Marat-hon in 2005 as part of a life list, things we wanted to do before we kicked the bucket really, and I caught the racing bug then.

"I took part in the New York Marathon in November last year. I turned 50 then and wanted to do something big for that. The national hospice charity got me my place for that and that's when I pledged to raise money for them."

But after raising money for the national hospice charity, Carol got the fundraising bug and wanted to do something for people locally.

She said: "My initial aim was to raise £2,500 between the two charities and when I left to race in New York I was still a bit short.

"I came back and saw that my colleagues at work had done cake sales and raised the rest of the amount.

"I would just like to thank my work and colleagues for just being so great and supportive."

Carol hopes to continue raising more money for charity and will be taking part in the Nationwide Bath Half Marathon in March and also the Great North Run in October.