A dedicated reader of a West Midlands daily newspaper has bequeathed £11,000 in her will to the title.

The lady's cheque was sent to Birmingham Mail editor Steve Dyson for him to distribute to local good causes through the paper's Charity Trust.

As editor of the Trinity Mirror daily, he is also honorary chairman of the Trust which started life in the late 1800s as the Birmingham Mail Christmas Tree Fund to provide toys for deprived children.

It changed focus in the early part of the last century to hand out thousands of pair of boots to the Second City's shoeless youngsters.

Now called the Birmingham Mail Charity Trust, it distributes grants of up to £2,000 to deserving local community groups who have nowhere else to go for help and money has bought everything from new playground equipment to motorised wheelchairs.

All donations come from Birmingham Mail readers and local businesses keen to see the money spent only in the local community.

Steve wrote on his blog: "The £11,000 windfall for the Trust came from the will of a lady who obviously had some link with or benefit from the Trust in her earlier years.

"We're getting in touch with her estate to find out if we can publish a story about her generosity.

"It's a much-needed sum as, with the income of the National Lottery and dozens of charities employing powerful teams of fundraisers, donations have declined in recent years.

"For that reason, the Trust has now modernised its structure, employing a part-time fundraiser to raise its profile and using the good offices of the Birmingham Foundation to look after back-office administration and banking.

"The good news is that this new direction has already doubled donations in its first year, leading to grants of £20,000 in the last six months.

"The £11,000 cheque is very much an extra to this revenue and it will be quickly distributed to needy causes by Trustees who carefully assess applications every two months."