THE borough’s Special Olympics team has been given a financial boost from a Wordsley-based keep fit group.

Dudley Olympics, which has been run by Mac Scott for almost 35 years, received a donation of £400 from the Lively Ladies class run by community fitness queen Jean Hughes.

Jean, who received an MBE in 2013 for her fundraising, has donated more than £115,000 in the past 40 plus years with her keep fit classes, mainly for larger national charities.

This year however, Jean and her fellow Lively Ladies wanted a community cause to benefit from their fundraising. She said: “We wanted to change and find a local charity we could get behind and this is when someone suggested Dudley Olympics.

“I didn’t know about the group before, but when I met Mac he was such a lovely man, who spoke so passionately about the group and the disabled people the group supports, that I knew they were the right cause.

“We donated £400 to the group and Mac was so grateful. We have given £5,000 to charities before and they have not been as thankful for the money as the Dudley Olympics were.

“It gave us such a wonderful feeling to help such a worthy community group.”

Dudley Olympics is an ever-expanding group, with its membership rising from just six athletes at the outset in 1982, to more than 100 - and its swimming stars and track and field competitors have picked up thousands of medals between them.

Mac, who received an MBE in 2000 for his dedication to the team, said: “We are very grateful for the support of Jean and the ladies at the keep fit group.

“They have really taken to us and have seen how much Dudley Olympics means to every single member.

“The money will be a big help in giving disabled people across the borough a chance to shine through sports.”