It’s been a fantastic start to life as a tabloid for the staff at the Stirling Observer.

The paper was founded as broadsheet in the 1830s but in September last year was relaunched as a tabloid.

Two weeks ago it was presented with the Newspaper Society award for Best Weekly Paid-for Newspaper in Scotland.

And just 10 weeks since the launch of a campaign to raise £5,000 to provide a slit lamp for eye examinations at Stirling Royal Infirmary’s Diabetic Department, the target has been smashed.

Funds raised now total around £6,500.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Stephen Elster, treasurer of the Forth Valley branch of Diabetes UK – formerly the British Diabetic Association.

“We couldn’t have done this without the help of the readers of the Stirling Observer. The paper has really got the people behind us.”

The campaign was kicked off with a £1,000 donation from Scottish & Universal Newspapers, the owners of the Observer.

The tremendous effort by the paper’s readers was praised by the Observer’s deputy editor Donald Morton, who helped to come up with the ideas for the campaign.

“£5,000 sounds a lot when you say it but it was an obtainable target that was set,” said Mr Morton.

“We had people handing in the odd £1 or £5 and we had people cycling in the Italian Dolomites to raise funds.”

Another fund-raiser got money for the number of signed photographs of Carol Vorderman that he brought back from an appearance on Channel 4’s Countdown programme.

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