A WOMAN has raised more than £600 for charity by wearing a wedding dress for a day.

Maria Perridge, 44, of Vicarage Road, Leyton, spent last Friday dressed in a secondhand gown and managed to raise about £620 in donations for Diabetes UK.

She wore the dress all day long, including at work and during an evening gathering at the Walnut Tree House Club in Leyton.

“We had a few of the guys dressed up as well, my husband included,” she said.

And although Mrs Perrdige attracted a few funny looks during the day, her unusual attire also caught the eye of generous passers-by.

“Someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘This is for your collection’,” she said.

She also added to her total with donations from local newsagents, with a raffle during the evening event and with 50p charges for song requests made to the club’s DJ, Derek ‘Del’ Pryor.

“There were about 20 people there,” she said. “I was ecstatic when I added up the donations the next morning.”

Having bettered last year’s total by about £200, Mrs Perridge will be wearing a wedding dress for a day again next year and hopes to raise even more funds for the charity.