THE Forest of Dean Children's Opportunity Centre has been chosen as The Original Factory Shop in Lydney's charity partner for the year.

Staff at the Newerne Street store are gearing up to support the local organisation throughout 2012.

A programme of fundraising activity is planned, with a minimum target of £500 to be raised.

Store manager Mark Williams said: "Once again, we had a lot of local causes come forward asking for our support. On behalf of all of us at The Original Factory Shop, I would like to sincerely thank all the charities who applied to be our partner.

"After considering each application thoroughly, we think that we can really help to make a difference to The Forest of Dean Children's Opportunity Centre this year. We are really excited about our partnership and have already given some thoughts to how we could raise plenty of money for The Forest of Dean Children's Opportunity Centre. I'm sure our customers will once again be right behind us and help us raise much-needed funds for what is a very worthy cause."

The Make A Difference In Your Community charity campaign first launched in 2010, raising more than £100,000 for local causes across the UK since.