Last updated at 16:53, Wednesday, 14 November 2012

INSPIRATIONAL teen Alice Pyne appealed on Twitter to help her mum reach her fundraising target on Tuesday.

Vicky Pyne, Alice’s mum, set off last month to climb Mount Kilimanjaro with the aim of raising £10,000 for Alice’s Escapes.

Alice set up the charity earlier in the year to provide short breaks to seriously-ill children and their families.

Alice, 16, started posting messages on the social media site this week and prompted a flurry of donations that saw the total rise by more that £1,000 in just over an hour.

The money will be used to buy a static caravan for Alice’s Escapes to give families somewhere to stay.

Mrs Pyne said she had tried not to use Alice to raise money for the Kilimanjaro appeal for fear of taking away from the achievements of the volunteers who took part.

But she added: “I think our thoughts were that Alice was not stepping on anyone’s toes.

“There was something about reaching that magic £10,000 for me.”

The family hopes to have the caravan ready by March 2013.

Alice, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 12, said she was overwhelmed by the response to her tweets on Monday.

She said: “It is quite amazing. It was really kind of everyone and it’s nice that people want to help.”

Since being diagnosed, Alice has raised thousands of pounds for charity and campaigned to get people to register to donate bone marrow.

Her hard work was recently recognised when she was awarded a British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and then appeared on TV to receive a Pride of Britain award from Robbie Williams.

Mrs Pyne, who had to turn back before reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro, has said she plans to return to Africa to complete what she started.

Her husband missed out on the journey at the last minute, deciding to stay home and look after Alice, so the pair plan to attempt the climb – along with daughter Milly – next October.

First published at 13:02, Tuesday, 13 November 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk