THE team behind York's fledgling Arts Barge project say they are thrilled to see their crowdfunding target reached ahead of schedule.

The volunteers had set a fundraising target of £23,440 and that was reached late on Thursday night after a series of generous donations.

The project's coordinator Marcia Mackey said: "We are absolutely thrilled to get to the target with ten days to go.

"We have just been overwhelmed by the support from the community around here. We are delighted, and just blown away. We've got a substantial number of core supporters but what has been really gratifying is how many people from outside our direct network who have donated.

"We have seen a lot of names we don't recognise on the crowdfunding page, and that's been brilliant - really fantastic."

Among the donations was a gift of £1,000 given anonymously in late March, and two more £1,000 donations, including one from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

The team are particularly pleased with the JRF donation, Marcia said, as they are proud to have the respected organisation's support for their social aims.

The next steps for the Arts Barge will see a planning application go in for the refurbishments they want to do on the barge.

Marcia added: "That's already underway as we have got the naval architect's drawings and the standard architect is working on his."

After the success of the most recent crowdfunding appeal Marcia said they now want to focus on looking for grant funding or sponsorship to bring in any more cash the project needs.

The boat was bought after a previous crowdfunder, she added, and the volunteer team do not want keep asking the community in York for money.

The Arts Barge team bought their boat - the Selby Tony - in summer 2013 and it finally arrived in York to its mooring in the Foss Basin in March this year.