A POOLE boy is walking two miles everyday to raise money for Forest Holme Hospice, where his dad spent the last days of his life.

Jamie Groves, 11, from Canford Heath, started this challenge the day before the second anniversary of his dad's, John Groves, death on January 26.

John spent the last days of his life at Forest Holme Hospice after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in August 2018.

He died five months later aged 53.

Now, Jamie wants to show his appreciation for the staff at Forest Holme.

His mum Jacqui Groves said: "It’s the second anniversary of his dad’s death today (January 26) and Jamie wanted to do something positive to mark that and help him through it.

"When Jamie saw that Forest Holme was encouraging people to get fit to fundraise, he suggested to me about doing something. The next thing I knew, he’d written everything up for the JustGiving page himself. It’s surprising what children remember or what is important to them. For example, Jamie wrote about how nice the cleaner was at Forest Holme and how she spoke to him a lot. It’s just little things like that which make a big difference.

"Jamie is dragging me out of the house every day, rain or shine, and he’s being really strict about it.

"He’s desperate to raise some money for the hospice."

Donations have been flooding in, despite the fact Jamie's challenge has only just begun.

Jamie said: "I thought we’d get £150 and that would be great, but we shared the page at about 10 o’clock at night and we immediately got about five donations.

"The figures have just been going up and up and up. I’ve even had a £200 donation, which brought our figure up quite a lot. If we keep sharing, we can help good causes at Forest Holme. I want to raise as much as I can, but I’m not going to be the next Captain Tom and raise millions of pounds.

"The reason why I’m doing it is because so many other families really need it. If we didn’t donate this money, Forest Holme could not help and a lot of people would lose their lives very easily.

"I want to thank Forest Holme for all of their support and the care they gave my dad."

To donate to Jamie's fundraiser, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/johngrovesmemory