A HAWORTH heritage charity is celebrating receiving a much-needed boost from a public-spirited donor.

The Brontë Spirit works to maintain and restore Haworth’s Old School Room, which was built by Patrick Brontë.

One of the charity's projects this year was to replace the worn kitchen and toilet floors within the building, but Brontë Spirit faced a bill of £1,050 for the work.

After it was reported in the Keighley News and Telegraph and Argus that the charity had gained a Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Parish Council grant of £250 to go towards the project, a "white knight" came to the rescue.

The Brontë Spirit chairman Averil Kenyon said: “While we were delighted to receive the parish council grant, we still had a significant funding gap and no money left of our own after the roof restoration.

“But, amazingly, a donor who'd read the report of the parish council meeting in the T&A contacted us and offered to cover the difference.

“It was a fantastically generous offer and, while the donor asked to remain anonymous, we’d like them to know the work has been completed and we’re so grateful for their support.”

Mrs Kenyon added: “We were also aided by a kind offer from Keighley-based company, Jenkins Carpets, who put the whole project within reach by supplying the new flooring for the kitchen at half cost.

“That too was a very generous offer and it's wonderful to see a local company responding to such a cause as ours.

“We've repaired the roof on the two extensions to the building. Our next big project is to repair and restore the roof on the original part of the building.

“It's going to be a multi-thousand pound project and we’re about to start work trying to raise the finance.”