A DARLINGTON charity is encouraging residents to ‘give them five’ in a bid to help the elderly.

The Darlington Town Mission is taking part in the nationwide #GiveMe5 campaign, which offers to double charitable donations.

The campaign, run by Localgiving, aims to drum up support for community-based charities by doubling 1,000 £5 donations made throughout each day.

Darlington Town Mission is using the campaign to kick-start fundraising for 2015 and to help them reach more isolated and lonely elderly people.

The charity works to relieve such problems by visiting older people, taking them on outings and running a lunch club.

Its treasurer, Derek Mills, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be part of #GiveMe5 and hope that the local community will show their generosity and support.

“Just one matched £5 donation would give an additional £10 of funding, which would provide a day of visiting elderly people.”

The #GiveMe5 campaign will take place on Wednesday, January 28 and again on Wednesday, February 25.

At the end of each day, 1,000 donations will be randomly selected to benefit from an additional £5 of match funding.

Stephen Mallinson, Chief Executive of Localgiving said, "Local groups such as Darlington Town Mission can do amazing things with even the smallest amount of funding and #GiveMe5 provides a great opportunity for people in the Darlington area to get involved and make a real difference.”

Those wishing to donate to Darlington Town Mission should visit localgiving.com/darlingtontownmission.