Bungay Great Harry Potter Reading Marathon raises £13,000

The initiative, which involved reading all seven Harry Potter books over the span of four weeks, successfully concluded on Saturday, September 23.

It saw 3,407 pages in total being read out.

Set up by the town's Reeve, Terry Reeve, the reading marathon exceeded its initial £10,000 target.

The funds will help to keep the Fisher Theatre financially viable.

The reading marathon was launched in August (Image: Supplied)

Mr Reeve said: "The challenge really caught the imagination of the town.

“When I had the idea I thought let’s see if we can raise £5000, then I thought we should be bold and see if we could get somewhere near £10,000.

"To achieve over £13,000 is a testament to all those who came forward, got sponsors and read in relays, and a testament to the love the town and district have for the Fisher Theatre.

"It is a huge asset to Bungay.”

The 124-hour readathon, which included reading 1,084,170 words, was supported by various generous donations.

Bungay book printers Clays, which printed the early editions of the Harry Potter series, contributed £1,000.

Other donations were made by Bungay Golf Club captain Paul Vass, the Bungay Town Trust, and theatre benefactors.

Harry Potter readathon raises more than £13k for theatre (Image: Supplied) Mr Reeve said: “Those amounts were a huge boost.

"But we also had 75 readers who took part, who raised sponsorship from friends and family, so hundreds, possible 1000 people or more actually contributed to this success.

"I am so grateful to everyone of them.

"They made it all possible.”

He also praised the support of Bloomsbury, publishers of the Harry Potter novels, and the Baird Partnership, which handles the author's legal affairs.

Mr Reeve also acknowledged the efforts of the theatre's events manager Cathy Edwards-Gill and her staff, who created a "lovely Hogwarts scene" for the readings.

Each reader received a commemorative certificate for their efforts.