The family and friends of a child with cystic fibrosis have raised more than £13,000 to pay for a special form of treatment.
The funds will pay for a cystic fibrosis physio vest for nine-year-old Joseph Lomax from Wootton Fields.
His mum, Mandy Lomax, childminder Terri Roberts and her husband Neil, took part in a 200-mile charity bike ride from London to Paris over three days last month to raise the money.
Mum-of-three Mrs Roberts, from Wootton, who has been Joseph’s childminder for five years, said: “It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life.
“I am really close to Joseph and his family and it’s hard not to become attached and involved.
“Since I started looking after him I have been supporting the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.”
She added: “Joseph needed this vest but it is not available on the NHS and his family couldn’t afford it, so I wanted to do something big to help.
“It’s really overwhelming that we have managed to get the vest.”
The vest cost £7,000 and the team will donate the rest of the funds to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Funds were raised through the bike ride and from a charity talent contest.
Mrs Lomax, who lives with her husband Paul and their other daughter, four-year-old Emma, said: “Joseph has been struggling with his cystic fibrosis and has been very poorly over the last year.
“He has to do physiotherapy twice a day to shift mucus in his lungs. The vest will give him an alternative type of physio and also increase the effectiveness of his current physio.
“It will make a big difference to his daily life in terms of the burden of treatment.”
Caroline Chisholm School pupil Joseph will wear the vest for 20 minutes at a time at least twice a day.
Mrs Lomax added: “It’s brilliant that we have raised the money for the vest. It was a really emotional challenge.
“It’s hard as a parent because I can’t take the cystic fibrosis away from Joseph but I wanted to help how I could.
“It’s fantastic to have the support of Terri and Neil. Joseph is my son so that’s a huge motivation for me but for them to do this as well is absolutely unbelieveable. It’s amazing.”
For more information about the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, or to donate, visit www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk