THE plight of a terminally-ill toddler from Darwen touched the hearts of the local boxing club so much they decided to orga-nise a charity event for her.

Members of Darwen Boxers and Movers, based at Hampden Mill, read about two-year-old Grace Knowles in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph.

The little girl suffers from Cockayne Synd-rome, which has no cure, and she is not expected to live past the age of six.

Her mum Amanda Whittle, 27, of Sough Road, is hoping to raising money for research into the genetic condition and is campaigning to raise awareness of it.

So when boxing coach Trevor Thompson and one of the club's sponsors, Sam Stone, saw Grace's story they decided to organise a charity pool match against the pool team from the Engineers Arms, in Duckworth Street.

Mr Thompson said: "We saw Grace's story in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and wanted to do something for her.

"We haven't got an amount in mind, we just want to do our best for her.

"We organised a game of pool with our boxers competing against the pool team from the Engineers.

"They are obviously better than us so we said they had to wear a boxing glove for the match."

The club is hoping to organise further events to raise money for Grace.

Grace's mum Amanda was delighted to hear of the fundraising event. She said: "I think it's fantastic they are doing something for us. It was quite a shock but it just shows that there are some good people out there."

Cockayne syndrome is an inherited disorder where the genetic material (DNA) in body cells is damaged by ultraviolet radiation and cannot be repaired, which means Grace cannot go out in the sun.

Grace has type II CS, the most severe and uncommon of the three types with the most serious symptoms and shortest life expectancy.