BIG-HEARTED residents are over the moon after raising more than £3,000 for charity during fundraiser for a three-year-old boy.

The Bell pub, in Braintree, was transformed on Saturday for a fundraiser in aid of the Brain and Spine Foundation and to raise awareness of Chiari malformation.

The event was in support of three-year-old Henley Rogers, who was diagnosed with the illness earlier this year.

Organisers raised a whopping £3,152 as the community rallied round.

Of the total, £470 was donated from a 38.5 mile sponsored bike ride by Jay Norton, 14, and John Reynolds, with the pair finishing their ride at the Mountbatten Road pub.

Henley’s mum Kelly Rogers, 32, from Braintree, said: “The event and turn-out has been amazing.

“Henley has been on a hell of a journey. Chiari malformation is an abnormality in the back of the brain causing seizures and Henley once stopped breathing, with my mum and me having to resuscitate him.

“He has amazing days where he looks like a perfectly normal child but then he has days where he is lying on the sofa in pain.

“The support this charity has provided has been priceless and we are so thankful for everyone involved.”

A spokesman for the Brain and Spine Foundation, said: “We are thrilled to be the beneficiary charity of such a fantastic community event at the Bell pub.”

Jacqui Coldron who runs the pub with partner Gary Eckley, added: “What an amazing day.

“I chose this charity when I found out about Henley’s condition and the fact the family use the pub made it something close to our hearts.

“A team came together and we all worked so hard to make it a success.

“We are keeping together to arrange future community-based events and hope to hold a yearly fundraising event to support a charity.

“We aim to provide a pub that is an asset to the local community.”