TWITTER users can click the 'follow' button and help to raise £500 for New Hope as a businessman's 50by50 challenge reaches its final stages.

Stuart Allen will turn 50 on Friday, October 31 and has pledged to donate £500 to New Hope, based in Ronkswood, if he reaches 50,000 Twitter followers on his account @StuartAllenFCMI by his birthday.

With less than a month to go, Mr Allen is hoping to do a final push so he can find the 2,000 extra Twitter users he needs to complete the #50by50 challenge.

The 49-year-old, from St John's, Worcester, said: "I am doing well on #50by50 but still have just under 2,000 followers to go before Halloween."

Mr Allen set up the popular #WorcestershireHour on Twitter which runs every Monday from 8pm for an hour and attracts about 1,000 tweets from businesses and organisations every 15 minutes.

Plans are already in place for a party to celebrate reaching the milestones - turning 50 and reaching 50,000 followers - at Bindles Brasserie in Sidbury on Thursday, October 30.

A cheque will also be handed over to New Hope if he manages to reach his social-networking goal.

Tickets to the Halloween fancy dress party cost £15 with the profits being split between New Hope and Worcestershire Enterprise Ltd, the social enterprise company behind WorcestershireHour.

The #50by50 challenge got off to a good start, with Mr Allen gaining more Twitter followers at a rate of about 100 a day.

Twiter users who wish to help Mr Allen reach his target should log on to twitter.com/StuartAllenFCMI and click 'follow'.

To book tickets to the party, eventbrite.co.uk/e/worcestershirehour-halloween-get-together-and-50by50-celebration-tickets-13222064551.