AN ORMISTON Rivers graduate is filling his summer by raising money for charity.

Sonny Burch, 16, from St Lawrence, is planning a 25 mile walk for Little Havens Hospice, a children’s cancer charity.

Sonny, who recently left Ormiston Rivers Academy, heard about the charity on the radio and decided he wanted to help fundraise.

Sonny’s mum, Sarah Burch, said: “We had a friend a few years back who died aged 11 from a brain tumour and he’s always had that in his mind as well as being a genuinely caring boy.

“He heard about Little Havens from a radio advert and was like: ‘That’s the one’

“Havens just struck a chord with him over the usual cancer charities.”

Sonny is about to go to college to study Sports Science with the aim of becoming a physiotherapist.

He decided that he would incorporate his training for the course with a way to make money for the charity, and so decided on the 25 mile walk.

Sarah said: “Sports and exercise is a big part of his daily life.

“He decided since he doesn’t have much to do in the holidays and will be spending a large portion of it walking, running or down a gym, a charity may as well benefit from that.

“We moved here from Gidea Park about seven years ago and he’s never really got used to being surrounded by nothingness. It drives him mad just sitting about.”

Sonny’s route will see him travel from his home in St Lawrence to Maldon and back again, covering 25 miles in a day.

To donate to Sonny, text SONB99 to 70070. To find out more about the work Little Havens Hospice does, visit http://www.havenshospices.org.uk/little-havens-hospice.