A close-knit community in the Hollins area of Oldham joined forces earlier this month to raise thousands for a charity that is close to their hearts.

Centred at The Welcome Inn on Hollins Road, residents crammed into the pub for a special event to raise money for Dementia UK.

The good cause was set up by landlady, Julie Pirrie, and Danielle Pickett who felt driven to do something for dementia after losing her grandfather just over a year ago.

Danielle said she had always been a "granddad's girl" but he deteriorated in the last 15 years of his 94 years of life.

The 27-year-old said: "Your grandparents are a different kind of love and I found it difficult losing him.

"He was a cheeky character - very funny, loving and caring and he would give his time to anybody that absolutely needed it.

"I always get told I put people before myself and he has been the role model to teach me those ways.

"But I thought by helping Julie in the pub with the event, it would give me something to work towards and give me closure on my granddad at the same time, as well as making a difference for the future of dementia."

The pair sat down and hatched a fundraising plan which was staggered across numerous nights of events.

There had been a quid night and darts knockouts in the pub while Danielle offered her time as a qualified barber to cut men's hair and beards for £5 to £7 - all the proceeds of which went into the Dementia UK pot.

Before the actual main event had taken place, the team had raised £1,400.

However, on Saturday, March 4, the pub was brimming with residents and activity - from professional singers to raffle prizes and more.

Local businesses donated and gifted amazing prizes for the raffle, including a signed Oldham Athletic and Manchester City shirt, two Manchester City hospitality tickets, tickets to see the Latics and Rochdale football games and a 48-inch smart TV which was donated by the brewery of the pub.

Nando's also offered vouchers and even florists, hair salons and bakeries chipped in towards the event.

Meanwhile, dementia campaigner and famous cartoonist, Tony Husband, who recently had an exhibition in Gallery Oldham to showcase his life's works at Private Eye, donated some signed books that he helped illustrate about dementia.

Tony even created two cartoon strips for the event - one which was a raffle prize winner for the pub and a gift for Danielle.

All in all, the event saw £4,000 donated to Dementia UK which brought Danielle to tears.

"It was happy tears", she added, but stressed how the support on the day was "unbelievable".

She said: "I was really impressed with how everyone came together in the small pub.

"I was running around all day, I had sweat pouring off my head, but I've never seen the pub so busy and everybody just enjoying themselves while supporting such an amazing charity.

"I was overwhelmed."

Even the following day was of significance to Danielle what with it being her granddad's birthday.

"It was the first year without him and I was dreading the day, but then counting all the money and knowing how well we did was such an amazing feeling and knowing that it's going to make such an impact on the future of dementia.

"He had such an amazing life - 94 years is a long life to live and I was very grateful that he still remembered me even in his last days.

"But other families may not have that experience because dementia can affect people in so many different ways and it's just knowing that there's going to be families in the future that get that extra support because of our fundraising.

"For it to go towards helping somebody else is so heartwarming."

The woman, who also plays for AFC Oldham, said it wasn't the first time she's fundraised for charitable causes after she raised hundreds for Cancer Research in a white-collar boxing charity event after losing family members to the disease.

"I always say my top three charities are something to do with dementia, cancer and children", Danielle added.

However, the event at the Welcome Inn was different, she said, as she was leading the fundraising side and was liaising with businesses.

It estimated at least 100 people showed up to the event on Saturday and Danielle praised Julie, the pub's regulars for their support and its staff for keeping up high spirits during an inordinately busy day.

"Julie knew what it meant to me so she gave me the reigns to go off and do it.

"We've done fantastic - small businesses were donating, customers at the pub were making personal donations and Morrisons and Tesco's donated.

"Some people that came in we'd never even seen before and they were giving positive feedback.

"It's just so amazing to see from such a small community.

"it was a joint effort as we all did our bit to help give something back to dementia and it's given me more passion to do the best we can for it.

"It was a way of healing for me, too.

"I know I've done my granddad proud", she added.