EXTRA money raised for a young cerebral palsy sufferer will be donated to the Children's Opportunity Centre on Thursday.

For the last four months, fundraisers across the Forest have joined forces to raise £25,000 for five-year-old Charlie Mitchell, of Sling, who needs a life-changing operation to enable him to walk pain-free.

After a huge response the little boy exceeded his target by £10,000 and will present a cheque to the Coleford charity alongside his mum, Sarah.

Lead fundraiser, Sam Zala aka the Incredible Hulk, of Bream, kicked off fundraising in January by collecting money on the streets of Forest towns dressed up as Charlie's favourite superhero. Not long after, donations poured in on his justgiving page and fundraisers across the Forest also helped by holding various events including coffee mornings and sponsored sporting activities – to name a few.

Sam said: "It has been a lot of hard work to raise awareness of Charlie's cause but I have loved every minute. Everybody has been so supportive and got into the spirit. I can't thank everybody enough who donated for their support."

Charlie's mum, Sarah says she is "over the moon" that not only does her son have the amount he needs for his operation but she can help a local cause.

She said: "We exceeded our target by £10,000 which will now go to the Opportunity Centre plus provide the aftercare Charlie will need like physiotherapy. Charlie has attended the centre since he was a baby, they have been a great support to us and many other families and we would like to support a local charity. Charlie still also attends conductive education there once a week, which is a group form of physiotherapy."

Although the money is readily available for Charlie to use, Sarah says he will have to wait until next month to have the operation.

"We hope to find out a date for his operation within the next two weeks. There has been a delay while Frenchay has moved to the Bristol Children's Hospital," she says.

"We wish to thank everyone who has so kindly donated and organised events for him. We have been truly overwhelmed by the support we've received. We would like to give special thanks to Sam Zala aka The Hulk for her incredible drive and passion towards his cause, to both the Watts Urethane team for completing the Three Peaks Challenge in 24 hours and the bikers from Calico Interiors who rode from London to Paris for him. It's been amazing!"

•At least 100 motorcyclists will be taking on an 80 mile charity motorbike ride for Charlie this Sunday (May 4).

The event starts at Tesco in Lydney at 11am and finishes at the Ghurkha restaurant in Woolaston at around 2pm where there will be music and a barbecue.

For more information email [email protected]">[email protected].