Elizabeth Cannon Antiques in Crouch Street, Colchester, has this morning handed over £1000 to the appeal. Mrs Cannon raised it in just nine days through the sale of some fine small glasses.

She created an attractive window display complete with a model of a Roman chariot and with a backdrop of two 200-year-old paintings of Colchester, and a poster indicating that all sales were being donated to the appeal.

On handing over the donation this morning, Mrs Cannon was keen to thank all the people who had come in to the shop to buy the items. A Colcestrian herself, and the daughter of a former Mayor of Colchester, she said she was delighted with the warm comments that she had received from shoppers about the Roman Circus and the efforts to ensure it was saved for all to view and enjoy.

Isobel Merry (l) and Elizabeth Cannon (r) with the display raising funds for the Roman Circus appeal

In fact, she will have raised over £1,000 for the appeal as two shoppers made additional donations under Gift Aid, and there are still more glasses for sale.

There are three ways in which you can use the service.

1. Make an online credit or debit card donation. Justgiving will collect the Gift Aid element, if appropriate, boosting the value of the gift by 28%. The site now takes donations via Paypal too. You can make a one-off donation or monthly gifts.

2. Set up a fundraising page to collect sponsorship money for a sponsored run, walk, silence or whatever you want to do.

You can see an example of one already created for the appeal by Paddy and his friends.

3. Create an in memoriam page to raise funds in memory of a loved one or friend.

All income via Justgiving will for the time being be credited to the Roman Circus appeal, not to Colchester Archaelogical Trust’s general funds.

Over 8 million people have given to UK charities via Justgiving, so the chances are you are familiar with the site and its service.

Justgiving does of course charge a fee for running this secure service, handling donations and Gift Aid claims, and offering customer service to charities and to donors. This is 5% of the total sum, including any Gift Aid added. So, a donation by a UK tax-payer of £100 would be worth £128 with Gift Aid, and Justgiving would charge a fee of 5% of that £128.

Credit and debit card issuers also levy a charge.

If you’d like to donate online without paying a fee, beyond those charged by the credit and debit card companies, then please use our Charity Choice facility. This does not offer the regular gifts, fundraising pages or in memoriam pages of Justgiving.

After announcing the Justgiving page at the end of last week, we’ve received £190 in donations over the weekend plus £47.50 in Gift Aid, a total of £237.50.

The Council has already made a donation of £5,000 to the campaign which has been matched by Colchester 2020. Additionally some individual Councillors and groups have also donated privately.

Speaking on behalf of the Cabinet, Deputy Leader Martin Hunt said: “We wish to make it absolutely clear that we are fully committed to securing and preserving as much of the Roman Circus site as possible and we hope this contribution will secure the ownership of the starting gates which are a vital part of the site.”

Cllr Lyn Barton, Portfolio Holder for Planning, Sustainability and Environmental, added: “The Public Appeal is going from strength to strength and I am delighted that we have been able to make a further contribution. We are totally committed to this project and feel it is vital to preserve the starting gates site at all costs.”

So, please help us to unlock this £30,000 and make a donation today. Thank you.