An Exmouth charity that launched a fundraiser to give away 1000 free meals in 2023 has thanked the local community for its "incredible" support after it beat its initial £5k target with £9k now raised.

It said it was grateful in particular to local schoolgirl Ava Rose for arranging a non-uniform day and raising £132, and Exmouth RFC which received donations of over £350 from its Christmas Eve Christingle.

Open Door Exmouth CEO Lisa Pike said: "In December we launched our Christmas Campaign to raise £5k so that we can give away 1000 free meals in 2023.

"The local community were incredible supportive and have helped us raise over £9k which means we can help even more people this year including opening on Saturday mornings from 4 February.

"We are grateful to everyone who supported us including Ava Rose who arranged a non-uniform day, raising £132 and Exmouth RFC who received donations of over £350 from their Christmas Eve Christingle."

Open Door Exmouth, founded in 1995, offers help to anyone who needs it in the local area.

Initially a homeless drop-in centre, it now has four ongoing projects aimed at tackling poverty and social isolation.

It has a community hub on South Street, a men's shed in Littleham, a craft room on Hamilton Road, and a mental health support service at Exmouth Community College.

At its community hub, it offers a community café with low-cost and free meals, an anonymous grab-and-go community fridge, parent hub and baby bank with free nappies, and more.

From January to October 2022, the charity had over 8,300 visits to its café, provided over 5,500 and 700 low-cost and free meals respectively, and made over 600 one-to-one support visits.

Click here to find out how you can support Open Door Exmouth.