A team of fundraisers have raised thousands of pounds for an organisation that supports an eight-year-old St Neots boy with a neurological condition,

In the last few weeks, Team Emilio has held a quiz night and taken part in various running events to raise money for Emilio Saavedra of Fallow Drive, in Eaton Socon.

Several of the team took part in the St Neots Half Marathon on November 20 and a quiz night on November 25 raised £850 for The Neuro Foundation.

The group decided to raise funds after they heard about Emilio, who was just 10-months-old when his parents Mel and Jose were told he would need surgery. Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital diagnosed a rare condition affecting the growth of his skull and although he recovered well, there was more bad news for the family who now have two other children. In April, 2013, the youngster suffered what appeared to be a stroke and after tests, his parents were told he had neurofibromatosis, also known as NF1, another rare condition, unconnected to the problems he had as a baby, this time affecting the nerve tissue.

This can lead to a number of medical problems without warning, including skin lumps, disfiguring tumours, curvature of the spine and an increased chance of epilepsy.

Fundraiser Hannah Byatt said: “It has been an amazing couple of weeks and for some of us, it was our first half marathon, and we got fantastic times.

“We have set ourselves a fundraising target of £20,000 as a group. We all have individual fundraising pages set up, but are working towards a combined total. The Neuro Foundation have recently launched a new campaign, One More Nurse, to highlight the importance of having nurses available to support families after a NF diagnosis. It costs £20,000 a year for an NF nurse, hence our target. We have raised more than £5,000 so far.”