A GROUP of 11 children from Medstead have raised a whopping £1,742 for the Sick Children’s Trust by taking part in a 24-hour bounceathon.

The event was organised by 12-year-old Tilly Thomas and her brother, Theo, aged nine, who decided they wanted to do something to raise money for the charity that helped their family after the birth of their little sister, Nesta, who was at the time “very poorly”.

While Nesta is now said to be doing “brilliantly well”, the children wanted to do something to show their gratitude for the help they had received from the Sick Children’s Trust.

As such, they persuaded nine of their friends to join them in trampolining from 12pm last Friday to 12pm on Saturday, each taking it in turns to do 15-minute shifts through the night.

The children, aged between nine and 16, were stars, according to Tilly and Theo’s mum, Jo Thomas, who said: “All the children were amazing, none of them made a fuss when they were woken up, even when it started raining they just got up and got on with the thing they had set out to do. We are all incredibly proud of them.”

The Sick Children’s Trust believes keeping families together significantly improves the recovery of seriously ill children. The charity provides free, high-quality, home-from-home accommodation, as well as emotional and practical support, to families with sick children in hospital in the UK.

One of the young trampolinists, Ollie Sly, said of the bounceathon: “I didn’t think it was going to be that hard, because I didn’t think it was going to feel that long. I feel good that I’ve done it.”

The brave jumpers were Tilly and Theo Thomas, Bela and Luke Thomas, Max and Ollie Sly, Fin and Bevan Parker, Lana Boyd-Livingston, Lorna Plumridge and Kim Monkman.

To donate to the bounceathon cause, visit justgiving.com/jo-thomas11.