THE Press’s Guardian Angels Appeal has already hit its target – but donations have continued to roll in, swelling the coffers to nearly £308,000.

First-class high dependency facilities for seriously ill babies and children are now up and running at York Hospital, but money is still needed to make sure the standard of care is not dropped.

Since we hit the appeal’s £300,000 target earlier this month, we have received a further £7,810 for the appeal, and cheques are still coming in.

Mike and Barbara Allan, of Bishopthorpe, York, used the celebration of their golden wedding to raise funds for the upkeep of the new high-dependency unit.

They threw a party for 50 friends and family members at The Marcia Inn, in Bishopthorpe, and asked for donations to the appeal instead of presents, raising £520.

Mike, 73, a retired sales director, said: “When you get to our age, what can people buy you as a present?

“We didn’t like the thought of little children and babies from York travelling 20, 30, or 40 miles to be treated, so we decided to ask for donations to the Guardian Angels Appeal.”

The couple met as teenagers when Mike came to live in Poppleton, the village where Barbara grew up.

He said: “We were both 17 at the time and we just clicked. We got married when we were 23 and it’s been 50, happy, glorious years of marriage.

“I was away so much with work, so you could say absence made the heart grow fonder.”

Mike and Barbara tied the knot on October 18, 1958, at St Everilda’s Church, in Nether Poppleton, shortly after Mike had finished his national service with the Army.

The couple, who enjoy caravanning and hill walking, have three children, Christopher, Lynn and Dawn, and six grandchildren.

Christopher made a secret return from his home in California to surprise his parents by walking unexpectedly into their 50th anniversary party.

Enterprising students have also given the Guardian Angels fund a boost by handing over £300 from the advertising revenue of their new website over the past year.

The website, theyorker.co.uk, gives students at the University of York access to campus news and events.

Operations director Nick Connell said: “We wanted to support something that was going to make a real difference to people living in York.

“It’s fantastic news that the appeal has reached its target and it’s great that you can actually go to the hospital and see what everybody’s money has bought.”

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Alex McCartney, from Heworth, in York, held a classical guitar recital at the Unitarian Chapel, in St Saviourgate, raising £145.50 for the Guardian Angels Appeal from donations on the door.