Nearly £10,000 has been raised so far this year by staff from newspaper publisher Archant.

Among the fundraisers was a marathon-running reporter, an editor being arrested and incarcerated and a news editor’s star turn at Norwich City football club.

The grand total of £9,577 has been matched by the company as part of the Archant Gold scheme.

Among the staff to raise money were Hampstead and Highgate Express reporter Susanna Wilkey, who leapt out of a plane at 12,000ft to raise £769 for The Winchester Project.

She said: “The second we dropped I forgot everything about the briefing. Rushing towards the clouds, I felt the indescribable fun but incredibly scary feeling of falling at 120mph.

“For about 40 seconds, I forgot how to breathe or scream but experienced an intense adrenalin rush until the parachute opened when we were in the clouds at 5,000ft.”

East Anglian Daily Times journalist Craig Robinson raised £2,346, also for a hospice, by running the London Marathon.

He said: “It was all a massive high and the crowds were absolutely amazing. The feeling at 24 miles running down the embankment with everyone shouting your name was unbelievable.”

Other fundraising activities by Archant staff: