A former editor involved in charity work in India has raised £650 after undertaking a fundraising walk marking 75 years of the country’s independence.

Sean Duggan, who was Newsquest’s group editor for South West London and Surrey before leaving the company in 2015, took part in the 20k walk along the banks of the River Thames organised by Calcutta Rescue.

Sean has been involved with the charity, which offers medical, educational and support services to disadvantaged people in the West Bengal region.

Between leaving Newsquest and the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he spent three months each year in India helping the organisation.

Sean, pictured, told This Is Local London: “It feels particularly good to still be able to make a positive contribution today to the lives of some of those people whose world was, to a significant extent, shaped by Britain all those years ago.”

The aim of the walk was to raise cash to help fund Calcutta Rescue’s core work providing healthcare, education and employment opportunities to thousands of the poorest of the poor in Kolkata.

Sean wrote on his JustGiving page: I am so proud of the work that Calcutta Rescue is now doing in Kolkata, using detailed research it has carried out to ensure the right resources go to those most in need, installing clean water, toilets and covered bathing areas, opening small clinics to provide ongoing medical support in slums and creating educational and employment opportunities for so many.”

The walk, which took place last Sunday, started at Chiswick and end in Hampton Court.