KENDAL judo club has thrown its weight behind The Westmorland Gazette’s Gift of Life campaign by getting their top athletes on board.

Fifteen senior club members plus chairman Peter Holme and coach Mike Liptrot signed up to the campaign during one of their Wednesday night training sessions at the Kendal Dojo.

The campaign aims to tackle the huge shortage of organ donors in the region by encouraging as many people as possible to register to donate their organs after their death.

“We’re more than happy to support such an important campaign,” said Mr Liptrot. “It was good to know that quite a lot of our athletes were signed up already but for a lot of us, it was just a case of having the form put in front of us.”

Mr Liptrot said his brother-in-law died of renal failure last year which really put into perspective how important organ donation is.

“Even though I have had experiences in my own family I still hadn’t put my name down even though I have learnt how important it is. After you’ve passed away you don’t need your organs but they could help someone else and give them their life back,” he said.

The Westmorland Gazette is now looking for more sports clubs or work colleagues to sign up.