A Manx woman who spent a week living on refugee rations to raise money for charity says she was overwhelmed by the support she received and the money raised.

Anna Cottle, who grew up in Douglas but now lives in London, thanked all the supporters who helped her to raise £5,291 for the Concern UK charity.

She said her total exceeded that of the next highest by more than £2,000 and the charity had asked to use her video blog about her experience as part of their publicity campaign for next year’s ration challenge.

The Ration Box was an exact replica of a refugee camp’s ration box containing seven days’ worth of food: rice, beans, chickpeas, lentils, flour and oil (the sardines had been removed as she is vegetarian).

Ms Cottle said: ’I shared photos of the box on social media, as this is when it hit me that this was an insanely small amount of food for a whole week. I think it also hit my supporters, as Manxies and other friends from around the world immediately started reaching out with sponsorship, some of them for the second or even third time.

’One thing the charity did offer was ’rewards’ once certain fundraising milestones were hit, e.g. raise £125 and you can add salt to your meals, raise £250 and you can add a vegetable etc. They explained that people in refugee camps can be very resourceful and extra food could be bought on the black market - if you had the cash. Whilst this may have been taken by some participants as an incentive, I felt it weakened the challenge for me; those who had sponsored me had done so on the understanding I was living on what was in the box. Adding extras felt like I was cheating, so the contents of the box was all I consumed for the week.

At first she was boosted by the novelty factor of the challenge. A recipe book created by refugees living on the same ingredients gave focus while preparing meals.

’Despite very few ingredients, they had managed to be quite creative,’ she said.

’So, day after day I ate the exact, monotonous, tiny portions, but mid-week things started to go downhill. I got awful stomach cramps, and headaches I just couldn’t shift.

By day three, sponsorship was up to £210, more than her original target goal of £200.

’After that my total just kept climbing, so the physical discomfort was a price worth paying,’ she said.

’By day five my concentration had slipped hugely. I found myself turning things on and walking away from them, only half-completing tasks, and not being able to remember anything for more than a few minutes.

’The final day I struggled to eat at all. As the challenge came to a close, the final amount raised by 174 sponsors was a mind-blowing £5,291 - over £5,000 more than my original goal and more than £2,000 more than the participant in second place.

’I want to thank again all the Manxies who had my back from start to finish. A huge well done to every one of you.’