The Your Local Paper Winter Appeal has ended on an amazing note witha staggering donation of £3,000 from one of our readers.

The reader came into the newspaper’s office in King’s Lynn last Thursday with a donation which has surprised both the YLP team and the charities, handing over £1,000 to each of our three chosen charities.

This overwhelming amount has rocketed the appeal total from £7,000 to £10,000 – the most we have raised since the appeal was launched eight years ago.

The reader said it represents five years’ worth of donations and in a note with the cheques said: “I have been meaning to donate to all of these charities for years. Just never somehow got around to it. But the money has not been spent, so here it is.”

The appeal, which closed last week, has supported Lynn Night Shelter, the town’s food bank and Lynn-based Purfleet Trust. The generous donation means around £4,000 has been raised for the night shelter and £3,000 each for the food bank and Purfleet Trust.

The total is truly brilliant and the charities have expressed their appreciation.

Paula Hall, Purfleet Trust’s chief executive, said: “This incredibly generous donation will have a direct and lasting impact on the people we support, and we are deeply grateful to the donor for their kindness.

“We also want to thank everyone in the local community who has donated to the Winter Appeal – every contribution, large or small, helps us meet immediate needs this winter, like food, warmth and stability, while supporting people to rebuild their confidence and work towards long-term independence. Our community’s compassion and kindness is helping to make a real difference this year and we couldn’t be more thankful.”

Lucy McKitterick, night shelter director, added: “We were so pleased to hear of the generous donation made to all three charities in the Winter Appeal this week – what a very kind gift!

“The night shelter will be able to use our share towards the costs of staying open for our guests this winter – it’s the equivalent of covering the staff costs of our intensive support workers for over a week, which is wonderful and a great help.

“It’s lovely to finish this year’s appeal with such a generous gift but we’d also like to thank everyone who has given this year – it’s everyone’s donations added together which makes the biggest difference and we really do appreciate your readers’ help.

“Thank you also to Sue and the team at YLP for your support, and for spreading the word in these cold winter days about the night shelter and the work we do.”

Helen Gilbert, the food bank’s strategic project manager, added her thanks and said: “We’re blown away by the generosity of this single donation of £1,000 – absolutely amazing!

“We’re so grateful to everyone who has donated to the food bank this winter – nearly £3,000 so far – we value every donation and they will all go towards helping local people who are struggling.”

The donations will help all three charities continue their vital work during the colder months.

In wrapping up the appeal for now, YLP editor Sue Irving said: “It is also a massive thank you from me to this wonderful reader for such a generous donation and a fantastic way for us to end the appeal. But also, thank you to everyone who has contributed since we launched the appeal last November.

“We have been overwhelmed with the response this time, especially as the cost of living crisis continues to hit most households.”

“We didn’t expect to receive this amount in donations and we have been blown away as cheques and cash have come into our Lynn office,” Sue added.

“The appeal has closed for now and will be relaunched in November when we again hope to help our three charities with their work during the winter which always presents extra challenges for these wonderful staff and volunteers.

“The three charities rely heavily on community support and its a privilege to be able to help them in some way.

“Winter Appeal donations have helped to provide shelter, hot meals, emergency food parcels and wellbeing support to those most vulnerable in our community at a time when the cold weather sets in and the YLP team is eternally grateful to everyone for their support.”