Darlington Football Club's fight for survival has been given an important boost thanks to a fund-raising initiative by The Northern Echo.

The Newsquest title has raised nearly £25,000 in only a week after appealing to local businesses, organisations and individuals to sponsor a minute of a make-or-break home game against Rochdale.

A cheque for £22,850, which goes towards the club's day-to-day running costs, was presented Quakers' manager David Hodgson by David Kelly, managing director of Newsquest North-East, publisher of The Northern Echo.

More money has since come in, taking the total to nearly £25,000.

Administrators had warned that they would close the club if enough money had not been raised to cover running costs by the end of January.

But the Quakers have now been given a breathing space thanks to an all-stars match on January 25, which raised more than £120,000, plus the cash generated by the Rochdale game on January 31, and The Northern Echo's appeal.

The response to the sponsor-a-minute appeal exceeded all expectations, with donations flooding in daily to the newspaper. Companies and organisations queued up to sponsor a minute for £100, while individuals added to the tally by donating £50 per minute.

The appeal was so successful, some minutes had multiple sponsors. A roll of honour of those supporting the initiative was published in The Northern Echo and in its sister papers, the Darlington & Stockton Times and The Advertiser.

David Hodgson said: "The Northern Echo's support has been invaluable and this is a magnificent amount of money to raise so quickly."

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