INSPIRED by her brave young friend, a teenager brought a community together for a good cause at the weekend.

Good Friday saw crowds of people turn out to a fun day organised by Hurworth 13-year-old Milly Kipling.

The schoolgirl decided to hold the event to raise money for a charity which helped to support her best friend’s little sister, Ava Bainbridge.

As a result, more than £1,000 was raised for the Children’s Heart Unit Fund (CHUF) at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, where six-year-old Ava underwent two open-heart surgeries.

Hurworth Comprehensive School pupil Milly said: “Ava had two operations and it was really worrying for everyone.

“I saw the help that she got and thought that CHUF was a really good charity that needs all of the support it can get – they helped Ava so I wanted to help them out.

“Ava’s amazing and she’s doing really well now, she seems fit and healthy and happy.

“The charity means a lot to Ava’s family, they’ve experienced how it can help and when I told them I wanted to do the event, they were very grateful and did a lot to support it.”

Friday’s event saw visitors to Hurworth Grange compete against each other in a fun run before enjoying a host of family friendly activities.

Children were given the opportunity to meet the Easter bunny and to explore fire engines while chatting to crews from the County Durham and Darlington Fire Rescue Service.

Milly’s mother, Gill Kipling, said she was proud of her daughter for encouraging so many people to get involved and support the charity.

Ms Kipling said: “She just took it upon herself to organise this and got busy going around and asking people to do things to help, from finding a venue to getting businesses to donate prizes.

“She even convinced her dad to dress up as the Easter bunny and got the fire crews to go along.

“I’m very proud of her and I think Ava’s family feel the same - Ava is the sister of her best friend Erin and they’re all very close. We’re all chuffed that she’s been able to do something for CHUF.”

CHUF raises vital funds to support research and provide equipment, facilities, aftercare and salaries while supporting children and families receiving treatment at the Children’s Heart Unit at Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital, one of the world’s leading specialist centres.