TWO teams of eager fundraisers went head-to-head and raised more than £3,500 in one day for a north Hampshire-based charity.

Employees from Hitachi Capital Car Solutions, in Newbury, competed in a “store wars” competition, taking over the Naomi House charity shops in Church Street, in Basingstoke town centre, and at Chineham Shopping Centre.

The two teams of six employees from the sales and operations team at the company aimed to raise at least £1,500 each for the hospice charity through sales and fundraising activity – but the two groups smashed their target, raising £3,552 on the day.

Naomi House and Jacksplace Hospice, based in Sutton Scotney, recently launched The Caterpillar Appeal, which is aiming to raise over £4million to redevelop the hospice.

Both teams got into the spirit of the day, dressing up for the occasion, with the team based in Chineham Shopping Centre donning animal costumes.

The Church Street-based team dressed up in Second World War outfits to help attract attention and get shoppers into the shop.

As well as selling items from the shop, the Chineham-based team all took part in a sponsored bike ride at the front of the premises, managing to pedal 53km in just three hours, and borough Deputy Mayor Councillor Roger Gardiner came along to help.

Tina Starbuck, corporate fundraiser at Naomi House, said: “Naomi House and Jacksplace are so important to children and young people with life-limiting or life-threatening conditions.

“We couldn’t provide the services we do without the help of local companies like Hitachi Capital coming in and taking part in initiatives like ‘store wars’, which helps us massively.”