A group of volunteers in St Agnes have been one of the first in the county to take part in a programme designed to help charities and organisations raise valuable funds by simply giving up half an hour of their time.

Volunteers from St Agnes Methodist Chapel raised £400 towards a new kitchen after taking part in a project organised by Cornish company TRAC Services, which works with pharmaceutical companies across the UK to improve and simplify the information leaflets supplied with medicines.

According to Derek Skinner, Treasurer of St Agnes Methodist Chapel, raising £400 couldn't have been simpler.

"Fundraising can be quite a time consuming process but the volunteer programme for TRAC was extremely straightforward. We were given a leaflet to read through and had to answer some questions about the medication that it related to," said Mr Skinner.

Having raised £200 in the first session, a further group of 10 volunteers from the Chapel took part in a second event with TRAC, raising a further £200. With volunteers able to take part in an event once every six months, a new group of volunteers from the Chapel are hoping to take part in another TRAC event in the future to raise further funds.

Every volunteer taking part in the project earns a £20 donation towards their favourite charity, organisation or community group in return for giving over half an hour of their time to answer questions on a particular patient information leaflet.

TRAC Services Director Sarah Trethowan says the work with St Agnes Methodist Chapel shows just how effective the project can be for community groups and charities.

"The sessions worked extremely well thanks to Derek Skinner and Jenny Price from the Methodist Chapel who acted as a central point of contact for us, and found the volunteers from the congregation best suited to the particular leaflets being tested on both occasions.

"Our work to improve Patient Information Leaflets is reliant on volunteers giving up their time, and we were delighted with the volunteers from St Agnes Methodist Chapel and the fact that, thanks to them giving their time, they have also been able to raise £400 towards the new kitchen," said Sarah.

"We are looking for volunteers of all ages and backgrounds in Cornwall to take part in the patient Information leaflet tests, from individuals through to groups of up to 20 people.

"It is a really simple way for people to help their local charity, at a time and location that is convenient for them, and we would urge anyone interested to get in touch with us so we can send them more information and a registration form," she added.

Based at the Tolvaddon Energy Park, TRAC Services provides regulatory support to some of the World's leading pharmaceutical companies, including quality assurance support, documentation preparation, labelling advice and regulatory agency consultancy.