A nurse from Wombwell organised a national fundraising relay for a poorly girl she has never met.

 

Naomi Mitchell, 28, took it upon herself to co-ordinate the relay of a flag across the country in aid of a young Chester girl with neuroblastoma - a form of childhood cancer.

 

The flag has two-year-old Anya Bentham's first name sewn into it and a castle, because of her love of the Disney film 'Brave', as well as 80 blank squares which are decorated by children in each location it reaches.

 

It has been carried across the country by a group of mothers who met on online forum Marvellous Mummies since September 2.

 

Two of those were Anya's mother Naomi Bentham and Naomi Mitchell, of Kingfisher Drive, who received the flag herself outside Barnsley town hall on Wednesday after it was carried from Altofts, near Wakefield. Last week she walked all the way to Maltby to pass it onto the next mum.

 

She said: "We knew Anya was being treated for neuroblastoma but that it had reached the stage where she could only get any further help in the United States. They needed £250,000 so, in July, one of the mums said it would be quite nice if we could do something.

 

"We decided it had to be something done on a massive scale so I took it on and tried to organise it. We've got 76 mums taking part now carrying the flag from one end of the country to another over 2,400 miles with a target of £1 per mile.

 

"In the meantime Anya has been accepted onto a European trial so will no longer need to go to America but the money will still be going towards supporting her."

 

Once the flag it has completed its journey at the end of the year, it will be made into a quilt for Anya by a dressmaker and Naomi said she was hoping to meet the little girl then.

 

The mums have already raised 51 per cent of their target and donations may be made online at www.justgiving.com/Marvellous-mummies - which also features a link to Google Maps showing how far the flag has come.