NOT so much wearing their heart on their sleeves, but the Bury Times!

Bury Tandem Club for the Visually Handicapped riders is sporting new jerseys with the logo Supported by Bury Times on one of the arms.

The gesture is in tribute to the £10,000 awarded to the club by the Gannett Foundation last year. Gannett is the newspaper's American-owned parent company.

The cash grant, the biggest received in the organisation's 19-year history, will steer the club to financial security for the next two years.

The money has gone towards general and maintenance funds.

Bury Tandem Club for the Visually Handicapped, which has 35 blind and sighted members, has also recently secured a separate grant of £1,000 from Greater Manchester Police. Fundraising officer Mr Peter Carr said: "We have used that money to buy 100 new summer and winter shirts for our club members, all of whom will receive two shirts.

"And we've put the Supported by Bury Times logo on one of the arms of each shirt so that the name can be seen from the pavement while our members are taking part in their weekly route rides. The logo clearly spells out the support which the newspaper has kindly provided to us."

The club is now considering waiving the annual £25 subscription charges to members and providing financial assistance to blind riders towards the cost of necessary equipment.

Fundraising has also been significantly bolstered. Separate collections on The Rock in Bury and at Tesco in Prestwich resulted in more than £1,500 being raised for the club. Meanwhile, the organisation will undertake a sponsored ride between Bury and Southport on Sunday, September 17 with each member raising money. Any business or individual wishing to sponsor the event as a whole can contact either Angela Green on 01204 880165 or Janice Lowe on 01706 290910. They can also be contacted by those wishing to give donations.