WILF the Bear-faced Blogger has raised £500 for Yorkshire Cat Rescue thanks to his global audience.

The cuddly bear has attracted fans and cash through a blog about his travels in Yorkshire and Lancashire.

He 'writes' the blog with support from aid of Sutton author Hazel Mary Martell who for many years has written history books for children.

Hazel, who also writes romantic novels set in Yorkshire, donated £10 to the charity for every country the blog was viewed in.

Wilf's adventures last year attracted readers in 30 countries, and the number of nations continued to rise in recent months.

Hazel said: "The total countries reached 50 earlier this month, so I was able to hand over a cheque for £500 in the Yorkshire Cat Rescue shop in Skipton."

Hazel said Wilf was created after family commitments made it difficult for her to continue with her professional writing career.

She said: "I had to stop taking on commissioned work as I could no longer keep to deadlines.

“Although one novel - When Daffodils Bloom - was about two-thirds complete and others were planned, I just couldn’t settle to writing, even as things got a bit easier for me.”

Out of the blue, Hazel thought about writing a blog, but wanted it to stand out from the rest.

She said: “As I usually take Wilf the Bear on my travels, I set up ‘Wilf the bear-faced blogger’ to give a (usually light-hearted) bear’s eye view of our trips around Yorkshire, and occasionally Lancashire!”

Hazel decided to donate £10 to Yorkshire Cat Rescue, her favourite charity, for each country the blog was viewed in.

Hazel encouraged people with friends or family abroad to let them know about Wilf and asked them to take a look at his blog, as well as local people going on holiday outside the UK.

Visit wilfthebearfacedblogger.wordpress.com to read Wilf's blog.