Amazing Amelie and her Brighton school friends raise £6,300 for children in Ukraine

Brighton schoolgirl Amelie Brown has raised an amazing £6,300 and counting for children caught up in the crisis in Ukraine after organising a sponsored bike ride.

Amelie, nine, a year-four pupil at Balfour Primary School, was joined by her classmates at Brighton Velodrome last week, where they did around 600 laps collectively.

From an initial fundraising target of £100 for Unicef, Amelie’s family have watched in amazement as the amount has risen to £6,309.

Amelie’s mum Sarah said: “I’m really proud of her. It just snowballed really. Amelie has been a bit blown away by it all. She just wanted to do something everybody could do with her. They all did so well. The children that couldn’t do it on Thursday did laps over the weekend. There were about 30 children collectively. Amelie did 20 laps, which was her aim.”

Amelie had decided to do the fundraiser after seeing TV footage of families with children being separated and looking scared in Ukraine. Sarah added: “It’s obviously so upsetting, so we need that degree of protection but she’s very aware of what is going on. The thing that really touched me was the night after the bike ride, she asked me ‘when are we able to give the children the money’. It was so sweet. She knows that it will reach them.”

SEE ALSO: ‘You are welcome here’, Archbishop of Canterbury speaks at Lewes’ Ukraine vigil |

You can still sponsor Amelie and her school friends at justgiving.com/fundraising/anthony-brown100

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