The Meningitis Trust has raised more than £2m via on- and off-line tribute funds set up in memory of people who have died as a result of the disease.

The charity has been running tribute funds for nearly four years, but a spokeswoman said that the giving mechanism only really took off when the charity enabled tribute funds to move online, giving those setting up funds the chance to blog and for others to leave messages, light virtual candles and the like.

More than 10,060 donations have been made to the 265 tribute funds currently set up for the charity.

Donors also have a real-world element to the memorial fund. The Meningitis Trust set up a memorial garden in Stroud two years ago in which memorial oak pegs are engraved with the name of the person being remembered any time a fund raises more than £5,000. There are over 60 such pegs in the garden.