There’s effectively one less person in the Emergency Department this month – as colleagues have lost 12 stones between them in January.

Twenty-nine of them have started a Puddling Club and are donating £10 a month with cash prizes for the biggest losers!

Staff nurse, Katie Hodgkinson was the  first winner, losing 8.32% of her body weight -  a whole stone dropping from 11 stone 9lbs (75.7kg) to 10 stone 9lbs (69.4kg).

 Katie, second left, bagged £170 for her efforts and said: “I’ve really cut down on my snacks to be honest. That’s the biggest thing. I’ve been to the gym more often and have cut down on the amount of carbs I eat as well as my alcohol intake. Of course the chance to win some cash spurred me on too! "

One of her favourite meals has been the Thai Green Curry, from the Lean in 15 Plan by Body Coach expert Joe Wicks.

She added: “I’ve been to slimming clubs before, and sometimes it feels like you can eat too much, so it always took a long time to lose weight.”

Katie has decided to a new outfit, treat herself to some new lashes and also treat her boys with her winnings.

The Pudding Club started in January when sister, Katie Schofield, left, felt she was going to the ED "treat cupboard" too much.

Katie said: “I said to everyone how fed up I was of eating rubbish, announcing that I wasn’t going to go into the treat cupboard anymore. Someone else said the same and before we knew it we’d decided to all put £10 into a kitty and try to lose weight with the winner taking the cash each month."

There are men and women in the group from all roles across ED, and even a couple of colleagues from Huddersfield take part. They weigh-in on the same scales every week and send a photo of their results.

Matron, Louise Croxhall, second right, added: “It’s really brought the whole department closer together, and we're chatting with colleagues we don't normally work with. We have a WhatsApp group and we’re finding we all encourage each other. Even people who aren’t in the club are getting involved in supporting us (and sometimes teasing us if we look like we're eating something we shouldn't!).

“We’re all trying to encourage each other to keep going as it’s our annual ball on the 11th July.

The 2nd prize of £80 went to sister, Liane King who lost 7.35% of her body weight. And club founder Katie Schofield lost 7.07% and was third and won £40.

The team decided it was fairest to award the prizes for percentage of body weight lost.

Consultant Mark Davies has joined for February – so it’s going to get competitive.