A MYSTERY man has promised to donate £3,000 to Bury Hospice — but only if at least three other people match his offer.

The pensioner, from Radcliffe, decided to back the centre after reading about the campaign to build a new hospice in the Bury Times.

He has insisted on remaining anonymous, but hopes to challenge other people to join him in this philanthropic gesture.

The man, a regular fundraiser for a variety of charities, said: “The publicity in the Bury Times brought to my attention the money Bury Hospice needs to raise to build a new hospice. It made me realise that they need the support of as many local people as possible to make this happen.

“I really wanted to do something to help. I’m not a rich person, but I don’t have an extravagant lifestyle, so I decided on a sum that I could afford.

“I then started thinking about how I could possibly multiply this figure and came up with the idea to challenge other people who may be in a similar situation to me to match my £3,000 donation.

“I’d like to appeal to local people that if they have any spare money, donating a sum to Bury Hospice would be a great thing to do.”

The hospice’s fundraising team have welcomed the mystery offer and hope others will rise to the challenge.

Claire Warner, director of fundraising, said: “We can’t thank our mystery man enough for his generous offer. Now it’s over to the people of Bury to see how many of them can match his generosity.

“Every pound that we receive gets us a little closer to our target.

“We have £2.5 million to raise and we are appealing to the people of Bury to help us raise this through generous donations and innovative fundraising ideas.”