A primary school has raised over £6,500 for a charity 'close to the hearts' of the school community.

Ashleigh Primary School in Darwen raised a huge £6681.05 for Manchester Children's Hospital - the most that the school has ever raised for a charity.

The charity was chosen as two of the staff members, deputy head Jenna Harty and year six teacher Matt Harty, currently have a nephew called Rory who is at the hospital battling an aggressive form of leukaemia.

The school hosted a 'Run for Rory' event on October 22 with all 221 pupils taking part which raised more than any other charity event the school has ever seen.

In a letter to parents, Mr and Mrs Harty said: "This is the most we have ever raised in a school charity event!

"We would like to say a personal thank you for the overwhelming support from children, parents and staff through what has been and still is a testing time for us as a family.

"Rory our nephew continues to fight this awful disease but knowing we have helped in some way to support children and families going through such challenging times brings us some comfort."

The children were given a set amount of time to run around the playground as many times as they could.

They individually gained sponsors from family and friends who could either sponsor them for the full event of sponsor them by lap.

The school host the event annually choosing different charities each year, including East Lancashire Hospice, and usually raise around £2,000.

Headteacher Mr Ian Matthews said: “This kind of thing can strike any family so I think it was really close to home for parents.

"We have two members of staff who this charity is so close to so I think it struck a chord with our families and they really did pull out all the stops.

“It’s an astounding amount of money to raise, especially when some families will likely be struggling because of the pandemic.

“I am so proud of what this school community has done for such a fantastic charity."