YOUR generosity has ensured our Guardian Angels appeal got off to a tremendous start.

Thanks to you, £650-worth of cheques and postal orders are now ready to be paid into the Guardian Angels account.

But that's not all. York Hospital's Children's Charitable Trust Fund has donated £1,000 to get the ball rolling, and businesses throughout York and North Yorkshire have rallied round to help.

Some, such as bus company First, have adopted Guardian Angels as their charity of the year, pledging to raise funds all year round.

Others, including some pubs and shops, are organising raffles or pub crawls, or have collecting tins in their premises. This should ensure thousands of pounds will roll in throughout the coming months to help us reach our £300,000 target.

Make-up parties, coffee mornings and sky dives are just a few of the activities people have pledged to tackle for Guardian Angels.

Indian restaurants are planning banquet evenings, where 75 per cent of the profits will be donated to the appeals and various groups, including schools and churches, are also planning fundraising events.

Paediatric consultant Robin Ball said he had been delighted by the support from the community.

"Guardian Angels has got off to a really good start and we're really pleased to hear how people are supporting it," he said.

"I want to thank the people and businesses of York and North Yorkshire for their generosity and it's great that we're on target to do something really useful for ill children."

Jim Easton, chief executive of York Hospitals Trust, said: "It's been a great start to the appeal and we're really grateful for the support of the Evening Press and its readers.

"Guardian Angels is something we know is going to make the lives of children in this hospital much better and be really important for this community

"We know our community always responds fantastically to support their local hospital and we will keep going until we achieve our target."

Updated: 08:46 Wednesday, October 19, 2005