A group of 45 women from Calne and Chippenham, nicknamed the Gremlin Bashers, raised over £4,000 for Cancer Research UK during the Race for Life on May 31.

Louise Currie, of St Margaret’s Close, Calne, signed up for the run in Lydiard Park with her mum Sue Kemp, 46, and her nine-year-old sister Lacie.

She first ran the race three years ago with a group of nine women and has seen the team grow from strength to strength with more people signing up to fundraise.

Miss Currie, 24, said this year several people chose to run in memory of Calne beautician Leisa Redford, 41, who died of leukaemia in December last year.

She said: “A lot of people did it this year because our friend Leisa Redford passed away. It hit a lot of us hard because she was so young.

“I think the exposure last year helped. I think a lot of people who were sponsoring us wanted to get involved and when people lose someone it makes them feel like they’re doing something in their memory.

“It has been our focus over the past two months to try and raise as much money as we can, it’s what we’ve been talking about and it’s really helped cement friendships.”

The women ran in pink T-shirts designed by team member Louise Dolman, 28, who works for Facia Graphics in Chippenham.

One of the group, 26-year-old Jodie Elms, was the second runner to cross the finish line with a time of 21 minutes.

Miss Currie, who works in merchandising, first took part in the race with her nan Linda Pyne who had liver cancer and completed the 5km course in her wheelchair.

Her nan, who died in March last year, used to say she was gremlin bashing when she was going through chemotherapy and inspired the group’s nickname.

Miss Currie said: “The first year she did it with us, so it does mean a lot.

“It was really emotional because there were lots of different messages on the backs of T-shirts. My sister and I and my mum had stuff about my nan on ours.

“I’m proud of everyone because I know that some people would never have run before and some people don’t walk a lot, but everyone achieved something that day.”

The group would like to thank Fascia Graphics, who printed T-shirts for the group and staff of The Jenny Wren who helped with fundraising events.