Dame Judi Dench has been hailed as an "amazing woman" after she promised York multiple sclerosis victim Yasmin Heesom £500 to help pay for treatment to beat her crippling pain.

The Evening Press reported last week how Yasmin is set to go to New York in the New Year to undergo complementary therapy at the Schachter Centre.

She has been inspired to go since reading how North Yorkshire cancer victim Gail Hepworth had been able to control her pain since visiting the centre last autumn.

A donation from a York pub, the Gimcrack, meant Yasmin had enough to pay for the trip, but she will still need money on her return to pay for a range of nutrients and supplements.

Dame Judi told the Evening Press earlier this year she would give a recital to help Yasmin's fundraising drive, but she has so far been unable to do so, initially because of pressure of work and more recently because of her husband Michael's illness.

But now Yasmin has received a call from her secretary to say that Dame Judi would like to donate £500 - and still hopes to give the recital in York in the spring.

"It's amazing," said Yasmin. "I think she is an amazing woman. I couldn't believe it. I have always loved her."

Yasmin's carer Debbie Walker said she had been told the money had come from a book signing session in the summer, and added: "It's lovely she can still think of Yasmin when her husband is so ill."