AN APPEAL to stop the threat of deportation for a Bradford student with Down's Syndrome who could face violence in her native Malawi has reached its £5,000 target.

Memory Juma, 22, came to Bradford ten years ago after facing prejudice and suspicion in her village because of her condition.

Now, three years after her friends successfully fought a previous threat to deport her, supporters face a further legal problem which could see her sent back to Malawi.

Funds to help Ms Juma, her two younger siblings and their mum, who have asked not to be named, have been raised to pay for their applications - including the cost of a new NHS surcharge - as they ask the Home Office to renew its permission to stay.

Supporters needed to find the £5,000 to pay for the family's applications, which included the cost of the NHS surcharge, set at £200 per year and £150 per year for students.

The surcharge was brought in after the family was granted three years 'leave to remain' in 2012.

Non-EEA nationals who come to the UK to work, study or join family for a period of more than six months are required to pay the surcharge.

The appeal for the Friends of Memory Juma Fund was organised by HFT, a national charity which helps people with learning difficulties through England including Bradford, but it still needed to find more than £900 with only week to go before today's deadline.

Bradford College student Ms Juma attends HFT's weekly session at the learning zone in Preston Street in Bradford.

Following the appeal's success, legal representations to compile their case to stay in the UK will be sent off to the Home Office.

Supporter Dominic Wall, who has worked to safeguard Ms Juma's legal rights and was her head teacher at Southfield Grange up to 2013, said: "I'm delighted that we have reached our target and had the support from HFT.

"I know the work it doers and its commitment to people with disabilities in Bradford.

"The appeal has been absolutely fantastic. The people of Bradford have been especially generous to us.

"Once we have sent off the appeal to the Home Office."

HFT regional manager Andrew Horner said some of the cash for the appeal had come from its charitable funds and he praised the response of Telegraph & Argus readers.

He said: "Memory is a fantastic, lively young woman who is a pleasure to work with, when our staff heard about her situation and saw the response from readers of the T&A, I knew that there was something we could do to complete a great story for Bradford, which after all is Britain's most inclusive city."

As a baby, Ms Juma was kept indoors by her grandma because of people's talk of witchcraft and of evil, according to her family.

As she got older, she was called a "witch-child".