A CHARITY inspired by an eight-year-old from Bury raised £2,000 with its biggest public event ever.

Annabelle’s Challenge, named after Annabelle Griffin, hosted the Family Fun Day in Clarence Park, Bury, on Sunday to raise awareness of the cause and funds for Vascular EDS.

Annabelle suffers from the condition which causes collagen deficiency and means she is at daily risk of her internal organs and arteries spontaneously rupturing.

Father Jared Griffin, aged 45, who set up the charity four years ago with Annabelle’s mother Sarah, aged 39, said: “It went really well, we got the turnout we expected or were hoping for and we have raised about £2,000, but we are still finalising the figure.

“It is a fantastic amount raised from a stand-alone event – it is the biggest public event we have pulled of so far.

“It was also really good for us in terms of awareness. A lot of people who attended yesterday were not aware of what we do.”

The charity’s fundraising target for the last financial year was £35,000 and it passed that target by reaching £40,000. “We’ve smashed it,” added Mr Griffin.

“Annabelle really enjoyed it, we barely saw her all day because she was off enjoying the rides and watching the entertainment. We have just asked her if there was anything that she wanted to do differently if we did another event and she said everything was there that she wanted from a child’s point of view.

“We will be back with another event next year. There was positive feedback throughout the day and online there was a really good response on Twitter.

“I’d like to say a big thanks to everyone who attended, members of the public and all our volunteers because we couldn’t pull that off without them.

“It’s hard to single out anybody but it wouldn’t work without all their support.”

Bury North MP James Frith attended the event with his family. He said: “We had a terrific time at Annabelle’s Family Fun Day. Annabelle, her family and her charity are an inspiration to us all in overcoming the challenges life throws at us.

“The whole event was a celebration of this, raising money and great fun too.

“It was a huge credit to all involved, and helps make Bury as brilliant as it is.”