A newspaper helped boost a fundraising drive to restore a plaque commemorating a musician who died aboard the Titanic.

In September the Eastbourne Herald helped Peter Goldsmith launch his fundraising drive after he became fed-up at the state of disrepair the current plaque in the town.

The original plaque was commissioned by newspaper publisher Arthur Beckett, whose family used to own the Gazette and Herald series.

It pays tribute to John Wesley Woodward, a cellist in the ship’s orchestra who was part of the outfit which famously played while the ship sank into the icy waters, claiming the lives of 1,517 people on April 15, 1912.

He needed to raise the £1,200 needed to return the memorial to its former glory and hit his target after donations flooded in from Herald readers.

A revised estimate of £1,800 to repair surrounding granite was also topped.

A public unveiling will take place on 15 April – 100 years to the day since the Titanic went down.

Among the biggest donations were £400 from a Titanic heritage group in the US and a significant amount from a local hotel, which held a host of fundraisers.