A ten-year-old girl from Great Dunmow completed her very own triathlon to raise money in memory of her nanny over the weekend (Saturday, March 11 - Sunday, March 12).

Ella Stapleton, a pupil from Flitch Green Academy School, was determined to raise money for The British Heart Foundations De-Chox campaign in memory of her nanny who died of heart failure last year.

The De-Chox campaign encourages participants to raise money by giving up chocolate during March.

Realising she would not be able to raise as much money as she would like just by giving up chocolate, Ella decided to embark on her very own triathlon.

Her mum, Leisa Stapleton, said: “Saturday afternoon we set off in the sunshine and achieved stage one, stopping at Rayne Railway Station café briefly for a refreshment.

“This was the first time we had been on our bikes since last autumn and I certainly needed some encouragement towards the end, which Ella provided. “On Sunday we were outside Dunmow swimming pool at 7am, raring to go!

“She completed her 750m in less than half hour; mine took a little longer!”

Mum and daughter then headed home for some brunch and to polish off some homework before setting off on stage three, a five kilometre jog.

Ella is aiming to raise £250 for the charity with her efforts and has already raised an impressive £200.

Leisa added: “I am incredibly proud of her for the determination she has shown in achieving her goal, her fundraising is around 80% now but hopefully she will reach the target and more.”

Ella is already looking forward to setting herself her next challenge but hopes that next time it can ‘just’ be cycling and swimming.

The British Heart Foundation is the biggest funder of cardiovascular research in the UK and uses charitable contributions such as Ella’s to help fund life-saving research programmes.

Anyone who would like to contribute to Ella’s target can visit her Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/dechox2017ellastapleton