SUMMER sun, cheerleaders and good old-fashioned family fun helped to raise a staggering sum of more than £3,000 in a matter of hours for Littlehampton-based charity Jamie’s Wish.

On Saturday (July 20), the good cause held its annual fun day, at the Linden Park Scout Hall, in East Ham Road, Littlehampton, drumming-up an impressive total of £3,120.78p in just five hours – narrowly beating last year’s takings of £3,058.

Jody Terry, of Jamie’s Wish, was overwhelmed by the generosity and support from the townsfolk who enjoyed the bonanza.

She said: “It was a fantastic day. We just didn’t expect so many people to come.

“We were hoping to raise at least £2,000, so we were shocked when we found out we had raised more than £3,000.

“Every year seems to bring more trouble, financially, and for people to come back, time and time again to support a local charity, is just incredible and it means so much to us.”

An exciting display from Wick-based cheerleading group the Sussex Tornados proved to be one of the highlights of Saturday’s fundraiser, as well as the chance for families to have their photos taken with Peppa Pig.

Other crowd-drawers included the opportunity to throw water-balloons at long-time Jamie’s Wish supporter, Steve Tester.

“We had 90 water-bombs targeted at him,” joked Jody. “We always like to play little jokes during our fun days and it was Steve’s turn to step up this year.”

Planning is now underway to organise the next family fun day.

“It took us almost a whole year to plan Saturday’s event and it was really hard work,” added Jody. “But we really want to try to make next year’s fun day bigger and better than ever before.

“One thing we’re always keen to do is make it a family event, not just one for young children or just for adults. So that’s going to be one of our main focuses.”

She is appealing for people to provide constructive criticism about Saturday’s event by joining the ‘Jamie’s Wish’ Facebook group, or emailing [email protected]