A small dedicated band of volunteers are celebrating an amazing milestone in fundraising.

Over the last 30 years, thanks to rattling tins, collecting unusable foreign coins, putting on fetes and pantos - and the generosity of a wealthy anonymous donor - the Carterton and Witney branch of Save the Children has chalked up more than £1m.

For a branch with a much smaller population to call on than others, it is a remarkable achievement.

Vice-chairman and publicity officer Graham Evans said: "In our first year back in 1973, we managed £156. We started with 10 people and even now we just have 12. But they are all active for the cause."

Still the money keeps coming in - recent street collections in Witney and Burford raised £1,000 and the annual May Day Fair in Carterton netted just over £5,000.

The charity was set up in 1919 by Eglantine Jebb, who was appalled by the plight of refugees. She drew up the Rights of the Child which was adopted by the League of Nations.

Now, four fifths of Save the Children's money goes overseas to Third World countries and the charity is in the forefront of the campaign to fight for the abolition of child soldiers.

The success of the Carterton and Witney branch has a lot to do with Mr Evans and his wife Pauline.

They were two of the founder members. For 11 years, after a career in the youth service, Mr Evans worked as area manager for the Oxon and Bucks region of the charity - for many years, one of the highest fundraisers in the country.

At their home in Lipscombe Way, Carterton, they still have a cache of foreign coins. The coin appeal brought in all kinds of currency, from American dimes to Spanish pesetas.

Mr Evans recalls: "Of course, English banks would only accept notes, not coins. I remember one year we went on a trip to Le Touquet to exchange the coins for notes, then on to Bruges to cash in Belgian francs, and finally to Bonn.

"We collected thousands of pounds, including a lot from people returning from the United States through RAF Brize Norton."

Many of the branch's dedicated fundraisers have also been prepared to put on greasepaint and tread the boards for the annual Carterton panto, including current chairman Sue James, a teacher in the town.

It became such a success that she transformed it into a separate group called ACT (Acting Community Thingumybobs) which now puts on two shows a year, both for Save the Children.

Mr Evans said: "There's a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun."