A day behind bars was a day well spent for Councillor Ron Petterson and seven other local identities who were thrown in jail on Saturday for the PCYC's Time4Kids Fundraiser.

The annual fundraiser was held at the Whitsunday Plaza and locals could donate money to either keep the detainees locked up or set them free.

Division 2 Councillor and Chairman of the PCYC, Ron Petterson said he was more than happy to be locked up all day.

"This is my fourth year of being part of Time4Kids and I love doing it," he said.

"Being able to spend the day locked up and raise money for such a good cause is great."

All the money raised went directly to the local PCYC to help fund programs and activities.

Assistant Manager at Woolworths in Airlie, Mark Johanson said the day was completely worth it.

"I've been here for 28 years now and the PCYC does such a good job."

Natalie Blomme from Community Solutions and Ken Crittenden from Cannonvale Swimming Club were also among the first few to be locked up and both agreed the PCYC did great things for the community.

As the day went on, Zeb Culverhouse, Ange Kelly, Jan Clifford and Luke Bacon joined the detainees in their cells.

Sergeant John Dickinson said after a day spent behind bars, all the detainees raised $1195.35 and a total of $429 was raised in the bucket drop.

Each individual detainee has an online fundraising page and Sgt John said they had currently raised a combined total of $2500.