A SCHOOLBOY who wanted to stomp in the footsteps of his sporty mum received a trophy for his fun-run fundraising.

Jack Sands, 6, was named the best child fundraiser in Helen & Douglas House's annual Santa dash.

Every December the Oxford-based hospice, which cares for terminally ill children, hosts the spectacle where a sea of Santa lookalikes sprint through the city's streets.

Jack, who goes to Long Furlong Primary School in Abingdon, said: "I thought it would be fun to run in a Santa suit and raise lots of money. I wanted to win and raise the most."

His ambitious goal proved well-within reach, after he raised more than half of his team's donation.

Through rallying support from family and friends with an online fundraising page, he generated £295 of their £495 total which will help to pay for the hospice's services.

Helen & Douglas recognised his efforts by giving him a glass trophy, which mum Natalie Sands said he had placed with pride in his room at their home in North Abingdon.

The 35-year-old, who ran with her son on December 13, said: "My husband (Keith) and I are very proud of Jack for taking part. Jack thought the run was a lot of fun even in the rain. He finished the race with very wets socks but never complained at all. He had a smile on his face all the way.

"He was so excited that he was getting a trophy but couldn’t quite understand at first because he hadn’t won the actual race."

She and Jack ran with another mum and her five-year-old young son.

Mrs Sands added: "I do a lot of running and he said 'I want to do that'. I saw the Santa run advertised on Facebook and said 'how would you like to run in a Santa suit?' He was all excited about it. He didn't really understand that it was two miles but he pretty much ran the whole way.

"I asked people to just sponsor Jack instead of me. Two miles isn't much for me but for a child of five to do it - and actually want to do it - that should be rewarded."

Jack ran alongside more than one thousand others, counting along the way how many black Santa's belts had fallen to the ground in the throng.

He picked up his award with his mum, gran and three-year-old sister Sophia, and has proudly paraded it around his school classroom.

Bobby Higson, community fundraiser at the hospice in Magdalen Road, said: "It was great so see a boy as young as Jack win our top child fundraiser trophy. Well done.

"Money is still coming in so it’s not too late for people to send in the sponsorship money they raised. The funds, as ever, are incredibly appreciated."

Mrs Sands, who said her son is "always on the go", is thinking of taking him to the hospice's rainbow run in June if the running bug bites him again.