A darts marathon raises thousands for Queen Alexandra Hospital

A 24 hour darts marathon, held at The Stag, Fratton, saw people getting involved in the gruelling 24 hour marathon to raise money for the renal department at Queen Alexandra Hospital.

The marathon comes after a man, who waited years for a kidney, received one earlier this year.

Allan Harper, 64, was on the waiting list for seven years after being told his kidneys were failing.

The discovery was made in 2016 after he was involved in a car accident and although his daughter, Tina Burrell, volunteered to give him a kidney, she was not a match.

Seven years in the making and Allan received a call back in January where he was told that the renal department at the Queen Alexandra Hospital, had a kidney for him, which has been working since then.

Tina, along with the assistance of Karen Andrews, the landlady of The Stag, and her team, put on a 24-hour dart marathon on August 13 through to August 14.

Tina said: ‘Even though times are so tough at the moment with inflation, as a community everyone has come together and even if it is 20p, 50p or £1, that money will go a long long way and people didn't have to dig that deep in their pockets, but they did.’

They have previously put on a darts marathon back in 2018, where they raised over £1,000, but this year they have managed to raise a whopping £4,000 so far.

The event saw an auction with some exclusive prices that had been donated to the group including two Alan Carr tickets, a signed goalkeeper glove from Nathan Ashmore, a signed top from the Pompey FC team and many more.

The group will have a star plaque in the renal department for raising so much money for them and Allan wants to make sure that the plaque has the pub’s name on it as it was a group effort.

They are hoping to hold an event where they present the cheque to a member of staff from the department next month.

Tina added: ‘It was a massive success, we only set a target of £300 and at the moment, as it stands, it is at £4,036.’