A newspaper has launched a £25,000 appeal to help equip a new hospice which is being built in the area.

The twice-weekly Lynn News launched its Help Our Hospice Appeal to raise funds towards decorating and furnishing one of the seven bedrooms in the new £3.4m hospice at Hillington in Norfolk.

The newspaper has called on readers to donate to the good cause or hold fundraising events for it and within a week of launching the appeal, £1,000 had already been raised with an anonymous donation.

Construction work on the new Norfolk Hospice building is due to be completed in March and the funds raised by the paper will go towards items like furniture and specialist equipment for one of the bedrooms.

Journalist Julie Graham, who is co-ordinating the appeal for the paper, said: “The hospice is something which is a very important facility to people in the Norfolk area and the Fens.

“We are hoping that people will get behind this appeal to raise the money which will fully equip an inpatient bedroom. The idea of the rooms is to create a very homely feel to make people as comfortable as possible.

“We have had a good response so far. Within the first week, we had already gone up to a four-figure sum. We had a very generous anonymous donation of £1,000.”

Richard Shaw, hospice chief executive, told the paper: “What a great start to the Lynn News Appeal. Such a large donation to kick it off and lots of interest is very encouraging. Every £1 counts and we are very grateful to the newspaper and your readers.

“The people we support are our neighbours and support from our own community is vital to the service we provide.”

The paper will publicise all fundraising events held for the appeal and everyone who takes part will receive a certificate from the paper in recognition of their efforts.