A Christmas toy appeal fundraising campaign launched by a newspaper’s new editor has hit its £30k target in just a month.

The Bolton News launched the ambitious campaign at the end of October alongside other organisations in the town — with the aim of raising £30,000 to buy toys for underprivileged children in the town.

The launch coincided with the newspaper’s first ‘good news’ Saturday edition — which has also provided a boost for newspaper sales.

Steve Thompson (pictured) became editor of Newsquest title The Bolton News at the start of October and made it his main focus to connect with the local community.

He said: “This is my hometown paper and I was lucky that I got a chance so early in the new job to get behind something like this.

“We’ve absolutely smashed the target and I think we’ll raise £40k before Christmas.

“The good news Saturday edition has done really well and it’s had an impact on sales too which is nice.

“So much so that we’ve been able to add extra pages to the edition from this week.”

The Bolton News’ sister title the Lancashire Telegraph, also edited by Steve, has launched a similar appeal this month.

Steve added: “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback from people like the local council and local business about our focus on community.

“It’s always been important for the local paper to truly be at the heart of the local community and even more so at the moment.”

This article first appeared on Behind Local News.