On Sunday September 4th, the Wimbledon Village Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team hosted their annual charity tug of war competition. Participants included: the Wimbledon Taxi Pumas, Merton Metropolitan Police, Emmanuel Church, London Ambulance Service, Peaches Hair Salon, Rosslyn Park RFC Nomads, the Royal Yeomanry TA and Putney Commons Stables.

The Wimbledon Village Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team had hoped to raise £2,500 for the ‘Hounds for Heroes’ charity, a well-known charity which arranges for trained assistance dogs to be given to injured or disabled men and women in the UK’s military and emergency services.

Despite the harsh weather that consisted of heavy rain and strong winds, the event still took place with participants eager to get started. Last year’s winners London Ambulance Service did not manage to get through to the finals this time however after all the teams had competed against each other with some triumphant wins, Emmanuel Church and the Merton Metropolitan Police stood to be the two remaining finalists.

At long last, the winners of the 2011 charity tug of war were the Merton Metropolitan Police team who had previously been victorious in 2007.

Although many donations were given, the Wimbledon Village Police Safer Neighbourhoods Team failed to reach their target of £2,500. In total £1,900 has been donated which is just 76% of the goal. Due to this, donations to the Hounds for Heroes charity are still open to be received online.

The day was filled with lots of enthusiasm and support carried out by many of those from the local area and overall it was a great success.