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Money Mountain 2008 has closed - with more than £20,000 being pledged to a range of local charities.

Who will benefit?

Seven local organisations will receive funds from ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Derby's final Money Mountain appeal, which culminated in an auction of goods and services on Sunday 12th October.

Burton upon Trent and District YMCA

A major part of their work is to supply affordable furniture and household appliances to low income families and those in crisis across the Derby, South Derbyshire and East Staffs area.ÌýAround 4,000 families will be helped this year, partly because they have just established a new showroom in Allenton to help families in Derby – working alongside the Derby Furniture project.

The grant will go towards a second-hand van to help meet their growing workload.

Ben Parker Trust Fund

A charity based in Ilkeston set up in memory of Ben Parker, who died of leukaemia in 2003.Ìý They have two caravans at Mablethorpe that can be used free of charge for families with children diagnosed with cancer/leukaemia.

Their grant will be used towards a ramp to give disabled access to one of the caravans.

British Red Cross Community First Responder Group

Matlock Community First Responders give essential emergency care to anyone in Matlock and the surrounding area. The group will use the grant from Money mountain to buy a defibrillator.

Greenaway Workshop for the Disabled

The workshop, based in Hackney near Matlock, provides a sheltered workshop for local disabled adults.ÌýThey undertake furniture restoration and undertake orders for a variety of printed materials.

The grant is for an electrically-operated numbering machine for them to use for their print orders – e.g. charity raffle tickets.

Derby Civil Aid

Provides first aid cover and ambulances at events in Derby and Derbyshire. Grant is for updating equipment on their ambulances.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland Air Ambulance

This is new service that came into operation on 1st April and is based at East Midlands Airport.Ìý It provides helicopter emergency service. The grant is for new flight suits for aircrew and paramedics.

Readycall

The Readycall scheme, based in Ashbourne, provides befriending and practical support for elderly and vulnerable people helping them to continue to live independently within their community. The scheme is dependent on volunteers who carry out a wide range of tasks such as shopping, social visits, dog-walking or one-off requests like hanging curtains or defrosting a freezer.

Readycall will use their portion of the Money Mountain funds for a portable, lightweight wheelchair so that users of the service can be taken out.

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With more than a million pounds raised for good causes in Derbyshire and East Staffordshire over the last quarter of a century, this is the last list charities and other groups to benefit from the famous Money Mountain auction.

Over the years the range of goods and services auctioned has been extraordinary - from a jar of Derbyshire honey to a vasectomy!

In 25 years the final total raised each year has always exceeded the amount pledged by the end of the auction day.

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Derby Editor Simon Cornes promised that Money Mountain would go out in style: "Money Mountain is a Radio Derby institution. It's not easy to draw a line under something that's played such a part in our lives but all good things really do come to an end and we feel that our twenty-fifth auction gives us a chance to go out on a high.

"The charity landscape has changed enormously over the years but this certainly isn't the end of Radio Derby's involvement with the community. The recent Community Champions Awards bear testimony to that.

"Our listeners should be immensely proud of having raised over a million pounds. Hundreds of local good causes have benefited from their extraordinary generosity."