Peter Andre has said praised a band of fundraisers who have donated their old clothes to raise money for Cancer Research UK, saying that he was "blown away by their passion."

As part of The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw, members of the 18 Slimming World groups in Chelmsford have collected 460 bags of clothes, shoes and accessories from members who slimmed out of their old wardrobes and feel confident they will never need their these clothes again.

With each bag worth around £25 to the charity, slimmers in Chelmsford have raised around £11,500 for the charity.

The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw aims to increase awareness of how keeping a healthy weight helps reduce the risk of developing some types of cancer.

The event has been supported by the Mysterious Girl singer and well known celebrity face, Peter Andre, who is a joint ambassador for the campaign and founder of his own Cancer Research UK fund after sadly losing his brother to cancer.

Peter Andre said: “I’m delighted to be supporting the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw campaign this year, and so thankful to the slimmers in Chelmsford for being so generous in their support of the campaign.

"The Clothes Throw is a fantastic opportunity for them to celebrate their weight losses, because they know that with the fantastic 'Food Optimising' healthy eating plan along with the support they get in their groups, they’ll never need to see those sizes again."

“I’ve seen first-hand how Slimming World groups really do make a difference.

"I attended the Slimming World awards in 2014 and met lots of people who’ve lost incredible amounts of weight.

"They told me how it has completely transformed their lives – and their families’ lives too! They were eating more healthily and being more active, and they were doing it together.

"Every single one of them told me that they couldn’t have made those changes without the support of their Slimming World group and their consultant.

"I was blown away by their passion and would encourage anyone thinking of losing weight to look up their nearest group to find out more.”

Last year, slimmers across the UK raised £2.1 million through donations and this year the event has smashed that target and raised £3.3 million for Cancer Research UK.

Consultant and Chelmsford Team Developer Emma Lodge, who runs Wednesday and Saturday morning weekly groups in the city, is proud of her members’ fundraising efforts. 

She said: “The members never fail to amaze me with their weight loss results week after week and it has been great to see so many bags of clothes donated through The Big Slimming World Clothes Throw.

“This year’s Clothes Throw has been a fantastic success, and I can’t believe just how many bags our members, their friends and families have managed to collect.

"Our groups are always buzzing and when we collected the bags up and saw what a phenomenal amount there were altogether, and we realised what a difference we could make, the atmosphere was just electric.

“Lots of people don’t know that maintaining a healthy weight helps reduce the risk of developing some types of cancer.

"All of the wardrobes cleared and every donation made by our members, their friends and families will make a huge difference to Cancer Research UK and we’re so grateful for everyone’s support.

“The Clothes Throw has been a great chance for the members who have done so well to celebrate their amazing weight losses by saying goodbye to their ‘before’ clothes.

"I have to say a huge thank you to Safestore in Chelmsford who have also supported the event by generously donating free storage space in their Springfield location and it has made it so much easier for us to encourage donations with such a great space to store it - we would have struggled to collect so much without their help".