MONEY raised from a Christmas raffle means a 24-hour phone line providing support for grieving parents can now go online.

Mark Roberts, 64, and wife Sarah, 33, from Cutteslowe, in Oxford, run the Grieving Parents Support Group, a telephone service offering help and advice to newly bereaved parents.

The couple set up the charity after their own 20-month-old son Matthew died in 2002 after slipping in a bath while staying with relatives in Reading.

The lack of support they received during this time made them want to help others who were going through similar grieving and suffering.

More than £600 was raised with a fundraising raffle and toy sale at the Kings Arms in Sandford-on-Thames.

Mr Roberts, of Hawksmoor Road, said the money would allow the charity to buy a computer and take their service online.

He said: “We have access to a computer but it is not ours.

“This money is very important because it increases the way we can help people.

“Our phone bill alone is between £400 and £700 a quarter. It costs a lot of money to run the charity, that is why fundraising events like this are so vital.”

The charity costs £15,000 to £20,000 to run a year.

The counselling service receives hundreds of calls every week through three phone lines and volunteers work in shifts so they can answer calls throughout the day and night.

In December 2009, Mr and Mrs Roberts feared they would have to close the charity because donations had hit an all-time low.

But thanks to an appeal in the Oxford Mail the service was inundated with offers which allowed it to continue.

Father-of-three Mr Roberts said he wanted to say a special thank-you to the Kings Arms for hosting the sale, and those who donated.

He said: “It means a lot to the charity and the bereaved parents we help.”

Parents needing support can call the group on 08456 034309. To offer help or money to the charity, call 01865 556566.