A nine-year-old girl from Royston took on an epic swimming challenge to raise money for the children's hospital which helped her cousin.

Skye Adlam, who is in Year 5 at King James Academy, Royston, decided to swim 5k in March to raise funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Explaining her motivation for taking on the challenge, Skye said: "Ryan, my cousin's, kidneys weren't working when he was born so his mummy had to give him one of hers when he was two years old.

"l want to raise money for the hospital that saved my cousin's life and gave him the energy to play and have fun."

Royston Crow: Skye Adlam is a pupil at KJAR in RoystonSkye Adlam is a pupil at KJAR in Royston (Image: Russell Adlam)

In tribute to the bravery of her cousin, Skye chose to complete the challenge in one day rather than spreading it out over the whole month.

Skye arrived at Royston Leisure Centre for her swim at 8.15am on Saturday, March 18, ready to do her first length.

She completed her 200th length shortly after 1pm, to resounding applause from family and friends at the side of the pool.

Through a Facebook fundraising page Skye has raised close to £500, far exceeding her initial £100 target.

On the page, created by Ryan's mum and kidney donor Dr Marie Heselden, Skye said: "Please could you donate to help other children like my cousin and make other families' lives a little bit easier."

Skye's dad Russell Adlam said the amount raised was "a testament to the humanity and generosity of people, even in these challenging times".

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He said: "As parents we are extremely proud of her achievement and her motivations for raising the money.

"We hope this will inspire other local children to support a cause close to their hearts."

There is still time to register for Great Ormond Street Hospital's swim 5k challenge, with registration open until April 14.

To get involved go to gosh.org/get-involved/fundraising-events/swim-5k-in-march/.

Around 600 seriously ill children arrive at GOSH from across the UK every day, and the hospital relies on charitable donations to keep going.

To donate to Skye's fundraiser go to facebook.com/donate/3056135714696116/3056135724696115/.