John and Jenny French count the pennies that they raised for prostate cancer charity. Picture by Alex Walton. Ref exe 7629-14-12AW. Go to www.exmouthjournal.co.uk and click on myphotos24 to order your copy of this photograph

Jenny French has exceeded her target of collecting 10,000 pennies to rasie awarness of prostate cancer. Mrs French’s husband is suffering from the disease.

An Exmouth woman collecting coppers for a cause close to her heart has exceeded her target.

Jenny French, of Phillips Avenue, set herself a March challenge of collecting 10,000 pennies to raise awareness and funds for prostate cancer.

Jenny - whose husband, John, 59, suffers from the disease – this week counted her collection and was ‘amazed’ to find a total of 12,176 pennies.

“The response was absolutely amazing – especially after it had been in the Journal,” said the Withycombe Raleigh Primary School teaching assistant. “I had people coming to the house and a lady passed a big bag of pennies over the school fence to one of my colleagues. It was brilliant.

“People were going into the Cancer Research charity shop, saying they had been saving their pennies for something else, but wanted me to have them.”

Jenny aimed to raise the cash to represent the number of men – 10,000 - who die each year from prostate cancer.

She now plans to hold the fundraiser and awareness event annually.

With the support of Exmouth’s Cancer Research UK shop, on The Parade, Jenny hopes to launch March as blue month.

“Eventually we want it to be as big as pink month,” she said.