A SIX-year-old boy, who will run more than three miles to raise money for his Grandad, has already smashed his fundraising target by £400.

Oliver Sleightholm asked his mum, Rebecca, 36, of The Ridings, Norton, if he could run the Race for Life in Scarborough after seeing an advert on TV to help his Grandad Paul who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer almost a year ago.

Since they signed up to the race, Oliver and Rebecca have already exceeded their £200 fundraising goal to reach the £600 mark for Cancer Research UK.

Rebecca said that she is incredibly proud of Oliver for suggesting that they do the run together and said that it is their way of doing something at a time when they can often feel helpless.

"This was just one way we could think of to give something back for his Grandad," she said.

"It's really hard and a lot of the time there isn't anything you can do. He's had his chemotherapy and his treatment so we are just waiting now and we try to avoid talking about cancer. But this is something that we can do for him."

The pair will be joined by Oliver's best friend Harry Allen and his mum Jo for the race, which takes place on Wednesday, July 16 on North Promenade.

Rebecca said: "It will be fantastic to have Jo and Harry there as well and we just want to raise as much money as possible. Within hours we had exceeded our £200 target and we just couldn't believe it.

"We're both getting really excited now and Oliver is counting down the days until the run now. I'm a little bit nervous because my son will most probably out run me."

To sponsor Oliver and Rebecca visit www.justgiving.com/rebeccasleightholm. To sign up to The Race for Life visit raceforlife.cancerresearchuk.org.