A CHARITY champion is giving youngsters a good name, after taking on the challenge of organising a successful fundraiser.

Ben Byrne arranged his first Macmillan coffee morning when he was just 11 years old, following the death of his grandmother.

Now 13, the Turton School pupil has taken his fundraising exploits to the next level — smashing the £500 barrier with an event at Harwood Methodist Church on Saturday afternoon.

Ben’s dad, Mike, is proud of his son’s efforts, particularly after the negative attention young people in the village have received amid a spate of anti-social behaviour.

He said: “He is just a very kind and thoughtful kid.

“There are a lot of stories around at the moment about young people in Harwood and Bradshaw because of the anti-social behaviour.

“Kids in Harwood get some bad press, but there are a lot of genuinely great kids out there and Ben is one of them.”

Ben, who is the youngest of three brothers, organised every aspect of the coffee morning himself — from baking cakes to contacting local businesses — and is planning more in the future.

Around 50 people attended the event on Saturday, making it a much bigger event than Ben's first fundraiser, which he held at home in Bradshaw Road.

His dad added: “A couple of years ago, Ben asked if he could do a coffee morning from home and he raised £373.

“But this time he wanted it to be bigger and held in a venue outside of our home.

“He approached Harwood Methodist Church himself and they kindly agreed to let him use the church.

“Ben has really done it all himself. He has been on social media organising for all of the stallholders to come down, he went shopping for all of the ingredients, and he probably baked about a third of the cakes himself.

“To raise more than £500 is brilliant and it was very generous of everyone who came.

“I think he will do another coffee morning, probably in another two years.

“With the rate he is going at, it will probably be held at Wembley Stadium.”