A FLINTSHIRE charity stalwart has been thanked for raising tens of thousands of pounds.

Doreen Lee, from Hawarden, has supported Domestic Abuse Safety Unit (DASU) North Wales for nine years.

During that time she has run a number of pop-up charity shops and over the last two years she has had a permanent shop to raise funds.

She runs her charity shop, based on Holywell High Street, independently and sources her own volunteers - with proceeds donated to DASU.

On Thursday, customers and supporters were invited to the shop along with Sian Hughes of DASU, Holywell deputy mayor Cllr Lynda Carter and solicitor Stephen Mullarkey (who supports DASU's clients) to celebrate Ms Lee's biggest milestone yet - £50,000 raised for the organisation.

Sian Hughes told the Leader: "Doreen does everything on her own, from sourcing goods and getting a team of volunteers together to help run the shop.

"She has a massive network of support and she is just non-stop.

"We're very grateful for everything she does."

She explained Ms Lee's most recent donation, of about £2,000, would be going towards Christmas presents for the adults in the organisation's refuges as well as providing a meal for them - among other services the organisation offers.

Cllr Carter said: "We've supported Doreen for a long time and this is a cause that is close to my heart. Doreen is amazing."

Ms Lee said: "It is the best achievement I have ever had in my life, I never thought I'd raise this much. It did surprise me. "I would like to thank every person who comes into the shop and my volunteers - without them I could not have done this."