CHEQUES worth a total of £35,000 have been handed out to charities that are benefiting from hundreds of blistered feet.

The results for Star Trek are in – and Time Team have done it again, raising a magnificent top total of £5,000.

Ilfracombe Rotary Club organised the night-time trek across Exmoor in March, and president Ian Stuart, who was handing out the trophies and medals at the Star Trek presentation, paid tribute to the team that has been Star Trekking since 1992 and only missed three events since. He said: "Their contribution over time has been truly outstanding. They have raised tens of thousands of pounds over the years they have taken part."

Each of the top three fundraising teams were also presented with cheques for their own nominated charity and Time Team chose Devon Air Ambulance. Taking second place with a total of £1,567 raised, were the Pludd Plodders who also chose to donate to Devon Air Ambulance and in third place were the team called Failed Miserably, raising £950 and donating to the Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

There were also prizes for the teams scoring the highest number of points for answering the set questions and completing each stage in the allocated time.

In first place came the Brookdale Pathfinders, followed in second place by Time Team and in third, Vini, Vidi Vici.

Then it was time to hand over the cheques for the main beneficiaries from the event – and the two hospices, North Devon Hospice and Children's Hospice South West each received £13,000.

North Devon Hospice chief executive Gordon Lester acknowledged the "tremendous contributions" Rotary has made for many years to the hospice and Emma Puckey from CHSW added that she and others enjoyed helping with the event each year and was impressed by the organisation of the event by Ilfracombe Rotary Club.

Ian also presented a cheque to his own chosen charity and handed over £2,500 to Denise McDonald for Ilfracombe's Memory Cafe which supports people who live with dementia and their carers.

Other cheques were also presented to the organisations who support Star Trek each year, including several organisations in Exford, where this year's event was based.

Cheques went to: Air Cadets, St John Ambulance, Raynet (who provide the vital communications network), South West Ambulance, Exmoor Rangers, and in the host village, Exford Memorial Hall, Exford Primary School, and Exford Flower Show and Fete Organisation which provided marquees for Star Trek.

The Maurice Reeve-Black Trophy is presented each year to an individual or group that has made a valuable contribution to StarTrek over many years.

This year, it went to Sue Ayre for the Ilfracombe branch of St John Ambulance for their continued coverage. And a presentation was also made to Paul Jaggers for his hard work in the logistics and site management of the event.

Next year's Star Trek is already in the planning stages as the event will be marking it's 20th anniversary. Teams are urged to mark the date in their diary for the 2012 Star Trek, which is set to take place on March 3-4.

As well as the two hospices the event will also be supporting the North Devon Chemotherapy Appeal next year.