A BURNLEY postmaster is on the way to collecting one million pennies to donate to Pendleside Hospice.

Steve Harvey, who has worked at Rosehill Post Office in Manchester Road for the last 25 years, is hoping that the challenge will raise £10,000 for the charity.

As well as raising a total of £45,000 through selling second-hand books for the hospice, the 65-year-old has just hit his next target of £3,000 in his ‘Raise a Million Pennies’ campaign.

Now the dad-of-one is encouraging people to clear out their pockets, purses and homes of all the loose change that can be disregarded, and donate it to the hospice.

Steve said: “The response from the public continues to be great, but there is still a long way to go and we need people to keep donating those pennies and loose change.

“My customers have been coming in every day and donating which has been absolutely fantastic.

“The biggest single donation so far has been £100 which we converted into 1ps and that helped the total quite a bit.

“I have been helping the hospice fund raising for the last ten years because I have a lot of customers who know people who have gone to the hospice for help.

“If I reach the total that will be a huge boost for the charity and will mean that the money will be put to good use when it would normally have just been forgotten.

“The total as it stands at the moment is great but we could always do with more donations.

“There is a thermometer up in the Post Office which lets people know where exactly I am with the challenge and that has encouraged people to donate as well.”

As well as sterling, Steve also collects foreign coins which he then converts into sterling for the hospice and old English coins as well as any unwanted gold.

Hospice fundraiser, Vikki Haydock said: “Steve does a fantastic job raising much needed funds for the hospice through book sales, and the ‘Raise a Million’ challenge.

“We are very lucky that he and his loyal customers are helping raise such huge amounts so that the hospice can continue to provide care to people in Burnley and Pendle”.