An eight-year-old tap dancer from Royston is taking part in a National Tapathon to raise money in memory of his grandpa.

George Warburton has so far raised £350 in memory of his grandpa, who died from cancer last year.

He said: "I've loved dancing for forever! When I was younger, I would dance around my house all of the time.

"I've been attending ballet and jazz dance lessons for about eight months, but I've only been doing tap and modern for two months now.

"When my mum told me about the National Tapathon, I just knew I had to join in. This will be my first-time dancing for charity – it is so cool!"

To take part in the National Tapathon, dancers sign up to receive links to online lessons from world tap dance champion Kai Scanlan. This Sunday (May 23) Kai will live-stream the performance with hundreds of people taking part from their homes.

Royston Crow: Eight-year-old George Warburton from Royston is tap dancing to raise money in memory of his grandpaEight-year-old George Warburton from Royston is tap dancing to raise money in memory of his grandpa (Image: Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation)

George said: "I have had so fun learning the dance routine from Kai’s instruction videos. I have had some help learning the steps from one of my dance teachers, Miss Nikki, as I hadn’t done some of the steps before"

Speaking about smashing his original £100 target, George added: "When I smashed my fundraising target I was really, really shocked, and so happy!

"To know that the money I have raised will help people makes me feel really happy and proud.

"I wanted to take part because sadly, my grandpa died last year from cancer. I really miss him. I wanted to do something to raise money to help people like him.”

George's mum Jo said she is very proud of her son. She said: "George was really affected when his grandpa died from cancer last year, so when the National Tapathon popped up on social media, I asked George what he thought about it.

"There was no hesitation - he was very clear he wanted to do all he could to help fight cancer.

"We set up his fundraising page together but used his words exactly for what he wanted to say.

"Both his dad and I are incredibly proud of the perseverance, hard work and practice he's put into learning the routine - he's clearly enjoyed every minute of it!”

To donate to George go to https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/George-Warburton