Climb boost memorial fund for Emily Bailes

A memorial fund set up in memory of a Bloxwich schoolgirl has raised £92,000 and is on track to reach the £100,000 target by the end of the year.

The Emily Bailes Memorial Fund was launched following the death of the nine-year-old Lower Farm School pupil in 2008 after a four-year battle against cancer.

Relatives and supporters have worked tirelessly to raise money for the charity Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group, which provides support for young patients.

The fund was boosted by more than £6,000 when Pelsall butcher Mark Turner and his son Daniel, 21, took part in a sponsored climb of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, last September.

Mr Turner, of George Turner & Sons Butchers, Norton Road, said: "The amount we raised far exceeded our expectations. We were aiming for £2,000 and to have beaten that figure by so much is absolutely fantastic and we are still collecting."

Emily's family and friends initially set up the fund to raise £100,000 by what would have been her 21st birthday. But the fundraising has proved so successful they expect to reach it this year.

Her mother Amanda said plans are now being made for a major sponsored walk project to 22 children's hospitals in the UK.

Mrs Bailes said: "We are amazed at the amount Mark and Dan have raised for the fund and very grateful for the fantastic fundraising they have done."