A CHARITABLE child has set himself a physical challenge to raise money in aid of a seven-year-old battling an aggressive form of leukaemia.

Lewis Dares, nine, will be swimming 40 lengths of an 25-metre pool, before quickly drying off and running 5km in a solo biathlon to help a poorly youngster.

Lewis, who lives in Dovercourt with his mum Vanessa, dad Dave, and sister Darcy, five, will be taking on the challenge at Dovercourt Swimming Pool then running along the seafront on Saturday, August 25.

The money raised from his biathlon will go to The Sick Children’s Trust in the name of Ben Wickens, seven, who has a rare form of adult leukaemia.

Ben’s grandmother Gill Wickens lives in Barrack Lane, Harwich, and is a family friend of the Dares.

Lewis, of Oakland Road, heard from his mum about Ben’s condition and wanted to do what he could to help him by raising money for the Sick Children’s Trust.

The national trust provides free high-quality accommodation to support families of children in hospital like Ben.

Money raised for the trust can help family members like Gill visit Ben in Newcastle, where he lives, more regularly by allowing her to stay in the charity’s housing.

Vanessa Dare, Lewis’ mum, said she is fully supportive of her son’s decision to do a biathlon.

She said: “Lewis is not quite fit enough to do a triathlon, so he decided to do a biathlon instead.

“I am organising a charity day on Bank Holiday Monday for Ben and Lewis asked if he could do something to help.

“I asked if he wanted to raise some money through an event of his own and showed him a picture of Ben.

“Lewis asked about his condition and I told him that Ben does not have a life like he does.

“So Lewis asked what he could do to help and we came up with the idea of a biathlon.”

Vanessa said her son is physically fit as he plays football for Little Oakley and swims for Harwich Swimmers.

She said he can swim about 30 lengths in an hour and also runs non-stop during his football matches.

She said: “Ben was diagnosed with a very rare form of adult leukaemia at the age of seven and he spends a lot of time in hospital having chemotherapy.

“He had good days, but he has bad days.

“We want to try and raise as much money as we can for the trust to keep it running accommodation for family members like Gill so she can keep visiting Ben.”

Lewis has already raised £65 from friends and family members and he has set an online fundraising target of £200.

To sponsor Lewis visit justgiving.com/fundraising/lewis-dare1.