An organisation which has given financial help to regional press titles during the coronavirus crisis has secured extra funding to the tune of a quarter of a million pounds.

The Public Interest News Foundation has announced a total of £249,140.97 in seed funding which it says will enable it to “continue to grow into the next two years”.

PINF launched a £60,000 Covid-19 emergency fund earlier this year – with recipients including the Cumberland and Westmorland Herald, Wokingham Paper, Isle of Thanet News, Llanelli Online and Shetland News.

The new funding comes from global philanthropic organisation Luminate, as well as the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.

PINF executive director Jonathan Heawood, pictured, said: “We are grateful to Luminate, JRRT and JRCT for their support for PINF and public interest news publishers in the UK media ecosystem serving diverse audiences across the UK.

“This funding will allow us to continue to build PINF in a significant way, and develop research and leadership programmes into 2021.

“We look forward to working with stakeholders across the news industry to unlock the potential of public interest news publishers.”