A Hampshire newspaper’s involvement with a local charity has seen a massive £40,000 raised in just four months.

In February Johnston Press title the Petersfield  Post asked readers to contribute to the struggling Rosemary Appeal, which raises money to pro­vide free care to terminally ill people in the comfort of their own homes.

They soon got the ball rolling and within a day of the launch story  one group walked in with a £1,000 donation. Since then the donations and fundraising events haven’t stopped.

The Petersfield Post's front page on Wednesday

Said editor Graeme Moir: “This great story shows how we have a great relationship with our community and how we have used this to help out an important community group.”

Half of the amount was raised through an annual football tournament held by The Football for Cancer group.

Graeme added: “Our readers have always answered calls for help from groups in our community but I am stunned by the sheer scale of support that has been shown to The Rosemary Foun­dation thanks to our appeal.

“Since the launch of our cam­paign, I have seen how popular this charity is in East Hampshire and the amount of extra funds raised so far shows how highly regarded the work they do is.

“To be able to say that our cam­paign has helped to raise an extra £40,000 in four months is incred­ible and everyone who has helped to make this happen deserves an enormous amount of credit.”

The appeal’s fundraising total for this year so far is 51 per cent up when compared to the same period in 2010.

The paper has also proved its commitment to the community by organising this year’s Petersfield Festival of Food and Drink.

The event collapsed when three main organisers pulled out last year so Graeme decided to call a meeting amongst local business people to try and save the popular event.

His idea was a success and the paper had produced an eight page supplement to preview the event.