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St. Dunstan's Church

Parishioners at St Dunstan's RC Church have been asked to dig deep to raise ?40,000 by the end of the year through the Debtbuster 2000 initiative.

Parish priest Father Michael Kujacz aims to raise almost ?1,000 a week through raffles, social events and additional church collections.

Father Michael is also appealing to better-off worshippers to promise to donate an extra ?100 to the church coffers over the next 10 months.

Tax payers who donate a regular sum will be entitled to a rebate from the government which they can pass on to the parish funds increasing their pledge to around ?120.

The scheme launched last week was suggested by a member of the congregation who started off the fund with a ?500 donation. The parish has already received a further ?400 towards their target.

Fr Michael said: "Rather than attempt to tackle the ?40,000 in one go, we will simply break it up into ?100 units. We'll keep a score board at the back of church and every time we raise ?100 we'll cross it off.

"The parishioner who suggested the idea has started the ball rolling by giving ?500. On behalf of us all I thank him for his kindness. With other money in hand we already have nine units so we are on our way."