HUNDREDS of villagers took on what might be the last ever Bagley Wood Fun Run to raise money for overseas projects.

The annual run has lasted 28 years but Sunday’s event – blessed with glorious sunshine – may be its finale as Kennington Overseas Aid is set to disband at the end of this year.

However organisers called for others to come in and continue the event which has become a regular fixture of village life – perhaps for a different cause.

The event has raised thousands towards KOA’s causes, which have ranged from supporting albino people in Tanzania and poor communities in Peru to developing villages in India.

Run organiser Sylfest Muldal, also a member of the KOA committee, said it was a great way to bow out.

He said: “It was a very good event, we had a fine morning and about 200 people from the village taking part – all having fun.

“It will certainly be my last year organising – we have been doing it for 28 years and it has happened every single year.”

The 64-year-old said he, along with the committee, would look back fondly on the fundraising efforts of KOA since its formed in 1968.

He said: “We are very, very proud of what we have done – we think Kennington is really unique in having this long-running fundraising project.

“We have always chosen small village projects that kick start people helping themselves all over the world.”

He hoped that a group with ‘fresh ideas’ would come forward and keep the Bagley Wood Fun Run going as it had become something of an institution in the village.

He said: “With how it has built up over the years we would love to see someone come along and carry it on and we would of course help anyone that wanted to.

“I feel it’s time for someone new to come along – we are very good at what we do but people’s attitudes towards charity have changed: it’s not that people don’t want to give money anymore but it could be time for something new.”

KOA was founded in 1968 after a village meeting where members of Kennington’s three churches came together to discuss the question ‘Who is my neighbour?’.

It was decided that neighbours could be anyone around the world in need of help and the group was formed.

Its first project saw seven days of charity events including a sponsored walk, a Scouts’ bingo and a children’s sports evening to raise money for a project to improve irrigation and provide seed and fertilisers for the village of Otterthotti in India.

But a week of events was not enough, so the group agreed to fundraise throughout the year – including the Bagley Wood Fun Run.

KOA is currently set to formally disband in September.