A celebrity-backed rehab centre on the verge of closure has been granted a stay of execution after receiving £25,000 in public donations. 

Staff at the award-winning 1NE in The Broadway, Woodford Green, made an impassioned plea for funds last month after its council funding was stopped when the centre failed to win a new contract. 

Russell Brand and Woodford Green MP Iain Duncan Smith have both backed the campaign to raise £160,000 needed to keep the service going for another year. 

Manager Fiona Dunwoodie, who founded the centre in 1987 with her mother Dorothy, said 1NE helps over a hundred people each year with abstinence based recovery treatment from drink or drug addiction.

Now, Ms Dunwoodie is "delighted" to announce the centre earmarked for closure on March 31, will continue running until June after raising £24, 391 on its Just Giving page.  

"I'm absolutely overwhelmed and extremely grateful by the public's generosity but more needs to be done to defend abstinence-based treatment," she said.

"I'm incredibly touched by everyone's efforts, particularly the cards from clients and ex-users as it just proves how grateful they are for their recovery. 

"Russell Brand has been absolutely brilliant, meeting with clients, and his dogged determination to show that abstinence is the way to beat addiction. 

"We have always had to fight to keep 1NE going and now accepted that people will have to pay towards their treatment. 

"The campaign is still going strong and we are optimistic for the future."

Two big donations of £2, 500 each have come from Wootton Grange equine farm in Warwickshire and the Pat Newman Memorial Trust based in Muswell Hill.  

Mr Duncan Smith has arranged for Tottenham Hotspur FC Foundation to visit the centre next month as a potential avenue for securing some funding. 

He described the public donations as "excellent news" and said it "serves to underline the strength of feeling locally about this organisation.

"Nonetheless, this is only a short-term solution, and I will therefore continue to put pressure on the Council to review its decision to stop One North East's funding."

Services for families and children affected by addiction and parental addiction will be maintained through charitable donations. 

A Redbridge council spokeswoman said that while the closure was regrettable, the new system would mean more people are treated.

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Mr Duncan Smith with senior management at 1NE last month