A CASH-STRAPPED charity that is pleading with the public to help them raise money reached above its £10,000 milestone in just 24 hours.

But in a pledge to raise £600,000 by January 31 2020, organisers from cancer support charity Wessex Cancer Trust said they still have a long way to go.

It comes as financial problems pummelled the charity into its first crisis situation in 40 years.

They saw a 30 percent increase in demand for their services, along with a 65 percent reduction in donation gifts and 17 percent decline in its seven charity high street stores.

A large money gift was also promised to the charity but was delayed.

This led to the charity turning to the public as "a last resort" for its first appeal since opening in 1981 - and now they say they need to raise £10,000 each day to survive.

Wessex Cancer Trust helps around 11,000 people with cancer every year through its four support centres in Chandler’s Ford, Bournemouth, Hythe and Isle of Wight.

The service put out a public plea on Tuesday and had raised more than £11,000 by Wednesday morning.

CEO Cait Allen: "We've seen a brilliant initial response to our plea for help. We've been reading all the comments on our Just Giving page and they're incredibly moving. It just goes to show what we mean to people in our local communities.

"We've seen generous people donating money to us instead of buying Christmas cards and hundreds getting in touch to see how they can help. There's still a long way to go though - we need to raise around £10,000 a day to save our services, so please keep the donations coming."

If the charity fails to hit their target by the end of January, chairman of the charity Barry Rinaldi said it would be "heartbreaking".

Cancer nurse specialist Donna Sharland also said it would "pose huge implications for hospital teams".

To donate, text SAVEWESSEX to 70085 or visit justgiving.com/campaign/savewessexcancertrust.