Fundraisers presented a cheque for £1,000 to the Hillsborough Family Support Group to aid them in their continued fight for justice.

Chairwoman Margaret Aspinall and Sue Roberts of the HFSG accepted the donation from representatives of Sports Drive Promotions, who have raised the funds through an innovative new scheme run in pubs around Merseyside.

The volunteers raised the sum over a four-week period by taking special scratch cards into pubs and asking drinkers for a pound in return for one of the 50 boxes on each game card.

After all the boxes were purchased, bar staff would reveal a name by peeling back the chosen number and the person who purchased the winning box collected a framed Hillsborough 96 poem written by Mike Latham.

And with all the proceeds handed over to the HFSG, the fundraisers hope that this month's will be the first of many donations.

Aspinall said: "After 23 years you still have people who want to give their support and these are the people who are not being recognised. They are the unsung heroes."

Latham, who wrote the poem Hillsborough 96, said: "When you go into the pubs and clubs and ask the people of Merseyside to help nobody says, 'no'. No matter whether they are in a Red or a Blue pub, everybody is behind the job that is being done by the HFSG and others."

Sports Drive Promotions was set up to help raise funds for charities across the UK including and also raises money for the country's 48 children's hospices.