ANOTHER generous mystery donor has come forward to support The Northern Echo's Stanley Burns Pit Disaster Memorial Appeal.

This time, a well-known man, who wished to remain anonymous, has given £500 to the appeal which follows other major but anonymous donations of £400 and £200.

Now the total raised to erect a collective gravestone for many of the 168 men and boys who died in the 1909 pit explosion stands at about £2,000.

It is hoped that more cash will be raised at an event, including a talk and slide show about the disaster, to be held at Sunniside Social Club, Sunniside, near Stanley, on Tuesday.

There will also be a raffle and the chance to talk to local amateur historians Jack Hair and Francis Newman, who will present the talk.

Money raised at the Sunniside and District Local History Society event, which will take place at Sunniside Social Club, at 7.30pm, will go to The Northern Echo's fund to mark the graves of 54 men and boys buried in a trench behind St Andrew's Church, in Stanley.