Determined 12-year-old Jayda, of Preston, who has dyslexia and ADHD, spent an entire day reading to raise money for the children’s hospice that cares for her little sister, Kaia, age eight.

Jayda Higginson, who also struggles with visual stress which can cause words to move around on the page, began her challenge with the Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan, and read from 9am until 9pm on Saturday, 14 February – just two days after her 12th birthday.

The super-reader powered through 12 hours, and several birthday brownies provided by mum, Cath, to raise £567 – more than five times her goal – for families just like hers.

“I’m so grateful for what Derian House has done for my family,” said Jayda.

“Like breaks away, playing in the playground, spending time in their cinema, and much more! So I did this read-a-thon to raise money so Derian can continue supporting families like mine.”

Both Jayda and her little sister Kaia share the same unnamed genetic craniofacial syndrome, and have both been through their own struggles throughout their lives. Derian House has been supporting the family for eight years – since Kaia was a baby.

“My read-a-thon started on a chilly morning,” continued Jayda.

“And I got comfy in my Derian House fundraising T-shirt and began to read. Then 12 hours, three brownies, and 706 pages later, I’d raised much more than my goal! Thank you so much for all the donations and support. I want to say a huge thanks to my parents – my dad for cheering me on, and my mum for giving me snacks.”

Mum, Cath Higginson, said: “We are so proud of Jayda! She loves books, but reading all day like this was a huge challenge. She didn’t give up for a single minute, and seeing her so determined was incredible – she even did a little happy dance halfway through.

“Jayda came up with the idea for the challenge herself. At first she wanted to do it for 24 hours! But she settled for 12, and we set her fundraising target at £100. Well, she absolutely smashed that in just 24 hours – and now we’re at £567!

“We love to visit Derian House to use the pool, the playground, the cinema. Derian has been there since Kaia was a baby, and we’ve done a lot of things through the hospice. And now Jayda has done something amazing to give back.”

Ann-Marie Fishwick, Community Fundraiser at Derian House, said: “Jayda is just incredible. Spending a whole day reading to raise money is hard enough, but doing it knowing it could help other children and families makes it even more special.

“Care is free to families at Derian House, but it will cost £6million to run the hospice this year. The charity only receives around 30% of government funding, meaning it relies on kind-hearted supporters to raise 70p in every £1. We feel so lucky to have supporters like Jayda, and every penny she’s raised will go straight to helping families who really need it.”

Donate to Jayda’s read-a-thon for Derian House: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jaydasreadathon