A VILLAGE'S appeal backed by Channel 4 presenter Jon Snow is edging closer to its £50,000 target.

A family fun day in the grounds of Corfe Castle on Saturday will be a further boost to an appeal towards the cost of carrying out essential repairs at Corfe Castle's historic town hall.

Parts of the town hall date back to the 1640s and Corfe Castle Town Trust has so far raised £35,000 after launching its appeal at the start of this year.

The appeal also aims to provide a disabled toilet, computerised museum archive and essentially make the town hall more accessible to community use.

Dozens of events involving the entire village have been organised for Saturday's family fun day.

An invitation hash run organised by the Wessex Hash House Harriers (for the fit and not so fit) sets off at 11am and there will be a relay race at 2pm.

At 1pm, the Margaret Green Foundation is inviting village dogs to parade their best groomed owners to be judged for elegance and movement.

A teddy bears' picnic starts at 3pm and there will be events being held at premises all over the village, with a fireworks finale at 11pm in the Square.

Corfe Castle Town Trust chairman Ken Wollaston said: "Jon Snow has been very helpful for us - the value of donations from the public has increased as a result of his support."

He also said: "I'm fairly confident we will have raised the £50,000 by the end of the year.

"The family fun day is going to be a great day - the nice thing is the whole of the village has responded and everyone is doing something."

The works will cost a total of £100,000 and organisers are confident of securing match funding from the Heritage Lottery fund after their £50,000 target is reached.

First published: Sept 20