A CLEVER young girl created a Facebook group which has raised £150,000 for her friend.

Lillie Cotgrove, 13, from Benfleet, came up with the idea for “The One Pound Warriors” last week, when Crowdfunding for her friend stood at £70,000.

Lillie invited people to join the group and donate at least £1, and has seen a huge surge in support from people in the UK and abroad including a range of celebrities from Jonathan Ross to Instagram influencer Mrs Hinch

Lillie wanted a way to help her friend Lily Wythe get the £300,000 needed to treat her brain tumour in Seattle, USA.

Lily, a 14-year-old from Eastwood, was given months to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour last year.

After a biopsy, the tumour was found to be a fast-growing inoperable “diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma” – the deadliest form of childhood cancer with an average survival of eight to 12 months.

Lillie’s proud mum, Sarah Cotgrove, said: "Lillie was really shocked when she learnt that Lily had been told there was no more treatment for her after she had radiotherapy recently.

"Knowing quite a lot about the power of social media, she decided to set up a Facebook group to help her young friend reach her crowdfunding goal to get onto a clinical trial in the US – her best chance of surviving. But she never expected such an incredible response.

"Strictly Come Dancing’s Saffron Barker, Lily’s favourite YouTuber, has shared the story and celebrities ranging from Jonathan Ross, Rachel Riley and Keith Lemmon to Steven Gerrard, Mrs Hinch and Gemma Collins have also been tweeting."

Hugh Adams, head of stakeholder relations at Brain Tumour Research, said: "It is just not acceptable that families who have loved ones affected by brain tumours are sent home and told to make memories, and that parents like the Wythes have to resort to trawling the internet to find clinical trials to try to keep their children alive.

"We desperately need to increase the investment in research into brain tumours so that people don’t have to resort to raising hundreds of thousands of pounds to access treatment abroad. It’s only through research that we will find more effective treatments for brain tumour patients and ultimately a cure."

Visit the group at bit.ly/2G5FAB1.