YOU'VE done it! A York charity today issued a huge thank you to readers of The Press, after an incredible response to an Easter appeal for help.

We teamed up with anti-poverty charity Acts 435, to highlight 20 local people's stories and appeal for donations to help meet their individual needs.

A fantastic response from readers meant all 20 requests were met in full, with readers donating £1,645 over the Easter weekend. From the moment the appeal was launched on Thursday morning, donations began to pour in, and the final £75 was donated yesterday morning.

People helped include:

- A young mum whose marriage had broken down and who needed £100 to help meet travel and accommodation expenses while her four-year-old son awaits heart surgery in Liverpool

- A 60-year-old York man who had been homeless and who needed £100 to buy basic equipment for his bedsit

- A single mum-of-five who needed £100 for new beds for her two sons

- A man in York who had been injured in a car accident and was sleeping on a bare bed-frame as he could not afford a mattress - until £100 was donated.

- A mum and daughter who had fled domestic violence in York and who needed help buy a reconditioned fridge and cooker.

- A man with learning difficulties who was fighting eviction

Jenny Herrera, director of Acts 435, said: "It's incredible to see the generosity, mostly of York-based donors, and it's great that they would respond to people who have real needs at individual moments in their lives.

"There is a real variety of needs there. Different people responded differently but they are all making a significant difference."

Acts 435 works by publishing speficic people's needs online, and allowing donors to choose who they wish to donate to. All requests must be verified independently, often by an accredited church, and all money given goes to meet that need.

Requests usually take around three weeks to be fulfilled and Ms Herrera said she would never ordinarily expect 20 to have been met in a single weekend.

All the money given will be transferred from the charity to the church linked to each request today, and the individual advocates will then be able to access the money and meet the recipients' need.

Ms Herrera said: "It really is fast, financial help for people in need. 100 per cent of what was raised will be going to those beneficiaries."

Acts 435 was founded by the Archbishop of York in 2010, and has since helped more than 3,000 people in need.