Inspirational Lily, 8, starts fundraising drive after loving mother's cancer diagnosis

And now, the inspirational 8-year-old has made it her mission to not only support her mum through treatment but raise as much money as she can for Breast Cancer Now.

Lily, a pupil at Four Oaks Primary School, has already raised a fantastic £2,425 for the charity following a walk in Sutton Park. And she is now planning her next challenges, including a muddy obstacle course.

Gemma, 37, was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 20 and that has subsequently spread to her lymph nodes.

The single mum said: "The day I found out, I came home, sat Lily down and explained I had found a lump and the doctors had told me it was cancer."

"I wanted to be up front with her from the start, without overwhelming her too much with information and being as positive as I can be.

"When I was little, my older sister Tracy passed away from cancer, so I had to reassure her about that as well but one of the first things Lily said was 'Can we do Race for Life?' She was aware of that being an event which raises money to support Breast Cancer.

"She has such an old head on young shoulders and said: 'we are going to beat cancer.'

"For Lily, the fundraising has really made her feel like she is making a difference. On top of her Christmas list, she said is 'for mommy to get better' so she is very aware of what's going on.

"So we set up a Justgiving page and had an initial target of £100 and it has taken off from there with some great friends, work colleagues and Lily’s school community donating."

Doting mum Gemma, a Finance Manager for WSP UK, added: "I am just so unbelievably proud of the person Lily is becoming.

"She is a really special little girl, kind, thoughtful, selfless and my biggest inspiration, supporter and motivator to fight this with everything that I have got.

"She is such a positive little girl and we have such a close relationship.

"She has even made a list on her I-pad of ways she can help me after my operation, so she said she can make toast, weetabix, brushing my hair. She just wants to help."

One of Lily’s favourite numbers is 8, hence the reason she chose to walk 8km.

"It went really well," said Gemma, about the walk. "We set off from the Bracebridge, just before midday, and completed it in just over two hours.

"Lily got treated at the end with pizza and chips from the kiosk and my parents came down with some balloons.

"It was lovely, we had lots of chats walking around and saw the ponies.

"We had matching tops on and one kind lady stopped and asked what we were doing and Lily explained it to her and she gave us some money to add on to Lily's ever growing total.

"So many people have supported us and the biggest thing for Lily is, not just the money being donated, but the messages of support people have been leaving for her, which have been lovely."

And Lily, herself, said she was fully motivated for the challenge,

"The walk was really good," she said."It was difficult but I really enjoyed it.

"There are so many adverts for Walk for Life and I wanted to do something myself.

"One of the things that pushed me was my auntie Tracy died of cancer when she was 21 and I never got to meet her and also so many people have sponsored me and believed in me, so why shouldn't I believe in myself?"

Anyone who would still like to sponsor Lily, can do so at justgiving.com/fundraising/lily-langdell-clarke