Two charities have benefited from the generosity of the island’s banking industry and their clients.

At the recent Isle of Man Bankers Association/London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) annual dinner, a charity raffle saw proceeds divided equally between two chosen causes.

Chris Till, president of the Association, nominated The Wooden Spoon (children’s charity, rugby) as a beneficiary and Colin Peters, President of the LIBF Isle of Man Centre, chose The Isle of Man Underwater Search and Recovery team as his chosen charity. The proceeds were matched pound for pound by Barclays Bank so a total of £3,270 was raised to be divided between the two causes.

The Isle of Man Bankers Association is the trade association of all licensed banking institutions in the island with membership drawn from a spectrum of banks.

LIBF acts as the training and professional development arm for the local banking community, as well as wider finance sector colleagues and has been successful in introducing some of its qualifications into local schools.

The Wooden Spoon aims to positively transform the lives of children and young people with disability or facing disadvantage in their lives. Every £1 raised locally is spent on life-changing projects in the Isle of Man.

To date, Wooden Spoon in the Isle of Man has provided funding for projects such as the Isle of Man Wheelchair Sports Club, Riding for the Disabled, Bridge the Gap pod and Project 21.

Mr Till, chief executive of Standard Bank, Isle of Man, said: ‘Given my connection to rugby as both a player, coach, and latterly as a referee, it is great to support a charity which raises funds for causes based on the power of the rugby community.’