THE social media feed of a new day for charitable fundraising has been ‘taken over by the event’s own mascot’.

Ark Day was launched last month with June 21 – the longest day of the year – set to be come a 24-hour marathon of fundraising in aid of the Ark Cancer Centre Charity.

On Friday, the Ark Day Twitter account was ‘hacked’ and ‘taken over’ by the event’s mascot MoneyPenny to officially launch the social media campaign for the day.

Under #Blamethepig, MoneyPenny went on a spree of mischievous Tweeting, poking fun at an array of people involved in the event including former Masterchef winner Jane Devonshire and Gazette reporters, messages with pig-based puns and more.

The social media japery did not stop on Friday with more Tweeting taking place over the weekend and into the beginning of this week.

Meanwhile, Moneypenny also put in an appearance at the Basingstoke and Deane Sports Awards on Friday where the mascot was pictured with award winners and eventgoers.

The team behind Ark Day will be organising a series of events on June 21 and it is hoped that people, businesses, schools and community organisations in the area will support these and organise their own.

The Ark Day Organising Committee has volunteers from a range of organisations – Apollo Hotel, Clarke & Son Solicitors, Champion Group, Lamb Brooks Solicitors, Metro Bank, RewindDigital, and Rotary Basingstoke Deane – as well as members of Ark Cancer Centre Charity’s team.

The Gazette is also represented on the committee and is the media sponsor for Ark Day.

Ark Cancer Centre Charity’s £5m will provide a range of support services and complementary therapies, alongside chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, in a calm and uplifting environment.

Largely being funded by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), plans are progressing to locate the new cancer treatment centre on the existing Basingstoke hospital site.

For more information about Ark Day, signing up to take part, and arranging a visit from mascot Moneypenny, go to arkday.co.uk.