A RAYLEIGH youngster has raised more than £1,000 for a fellow West Ham United fan undergoing treatment for a rare form of childhood cancer.

Five-year-old Liam Southwood laced up his football boots and overcame the challenge of completing 101 dribbles, goals and celebrations in his back garden.

Liam was keen to raise funds for Isla Caton, who is short of her target for ongoing treatment for neuroblastoma.

St Nicholas School pupil Liam was full of joy after achieving his goal.

His proud dad, Richard Southwood, said: “It was brilliant for Liam to reach his target and also complete the challenge he set himself.

“Liam wanted to raise £1,000 for Isla and he reached that goal just before getting underway.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to see him fundraising and enjoying himself at the same time.

“We tried to make it good fun for him with some great celebrations.

“He was so excited to take on the challenge and he was practicing at 4am because he couldn’t wait to get started.”

Lockdown restrictions resulted in some family members being unable to join Liam in his Lincoln Way back garden, but that did not stop them cheering him on.

“Those of us living in the house were able to go in the garden and watch him and it was great,” added Richard.

“We also had other members of the family watching Liam take on the challenge on FaceTime and they were supporting him every step of the way.

“It was a great day for Liam and the whole family.”

Isla, five, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in March 2017 and more than £500,000 has been raised towards the cost of specialist treatment since.

With the antibody therapy currently unavailable in this country, Isla has been treated at a specialist cancer centre in the USA and in Barcelona.

However, Isla requires further treatment in the United States to prevent a relapse.

Before his latest outing, Liam raised more than £2,000 for the NHS Charities Together in another charity event.

Liam has set his sights on raising more funds for Isla in another event.

Dad Richard added: “Isla’s family have sent some messages thanking Liam and he has got more messages from people we don’t even know.

“Liam has been called an inspiration by lots of people and he has loved the messages he has received.

“I think he will do another challenge. We are hopefully coming towards the end of lockdown but he wants to get involved in doing some more things to raise money for Isla in the future.”

To donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/101challengeforisla