A CHEEKY fundraising page has eschewed the usual worthy causes and is instead appealing for public sponsorship for a ‘lads night out’.

The appeal, set up by Sam Bailey of Catterick Garrison, is seeking to raise £500 so that he and four of his friends can enjoy a night out together.

The friends; Mikey Garbutt, 21, Lewis Fegan, 23, Rhys Woodward, 21 and Sam Dawson, 21, are all either serving in the forces or are aspiring to - apart from Mr Woodward who is a joiner - and as such do not see each other very often.

Mr Bailey, 19, said that the group do not earn enough to afford a big night out, particularly once travel and accommodation costs are factored in.

However he admitted that the appeal was ‘a bit tongue in cheek’ and they do not really expect to receive the £500 they are asking for.

He said: “It is just a bit of a laugh.

“Some people have taken offence to it, but at the end of the day we aren’t doing anything wrong.

“We are not pretending that we are raising money for anything else; we are clearly saying what we want to spend the money on.

“We have had mixed opinions about it, but all people have to do is not look at the posts and don’t donate.

“It is a laugh between a few lads and people are taking it too seriously.”

The post has come under for some criticism on the Just Giving website normally used as a platform to help the needy, with one woman telling the group that ‘kids are going hungry’ in the world.

This was met with the group responding ‘we are going thirsty’.

The friends, all originally from Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, say they are not too fussy about the destination for the night out but quite fancy spending the money ‘on the sesh’ in York.

But they have quite a way to go to reach their £500 target as so far the crowdfunding page has only raised £15 - not enough for one round of drinks in a typical York bar.