Fund-raising to provide seven-year-old Harry Childs with life-changing surgery and post-op therapy has reached the halfway mark thanks to a £4,000 donation from classmates, teachers and parents at Berry Hill Primary.

Harry’s mum Sasha Evans, who is attempting to raise £40,000 to cover the cost of the operation and specialist aftercare, neither of which are available on the NHS, says she was ’absolutely amazed’ by the amount raised - the biggest single donation so far to the ’Helping Harry’ fund.

Harry was born prematurely at 31 weeks weighing just 3lbs 14oz and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy (spastic diplegia) at the age of one, which means he can’t take part in certain activities, cannot walk unaided and gets extremely tired.

An operation available at Bristol Children’s Hospital can give him a brighter outlook for the future, take away his pain and help him to get around more easily.

Harry’s teachers, classmates and their parents were determined to play their part and decided to get sponsored for a month of exercise.

Rockets Health and Fitness Centre in Coleford offered the use of the gym to support the challenge and even gave two structured sessions of intense workouts each weekend as part of the challenge.

All those taking part set themselves a specific goal, whether it was running 40 miles per week or walking 200 miles over the month.

The final challenge culminated in teachers, mums and children having a huge water fight!

“The amount they raised is absolutely amazing – and it really means a lot that it comes from Harry’s own teachers and classmates and their parents,” said Sasha.

“We have enough now to pay for the operation, which can be listed in September, but we need to find another £20,000 for the specialist therapy that follows.

“We’ve received so many donations large and small since the fund-raising started in January that it would be difficult to list them all. We just want to say a big ‘thank you’ to everyone.”

Head teacher at Berry Hill Primary, Sally Hunt said, “It was fantastic to see the whole school community get behind this fund-raising effort.

“The operation is a wonderful opportunity for Harry to have the chance to walk. He’s a very smiley little boy who engages fully with everything. His classmates have been having lots of fun helping him to raise the money.”

If you’d like to donate towards ‘Helping Harry’ please go to: http://www.justgiving.com/Harry-Childs