Hucknall girl Roxy-Lea is a little fundraising superstar

Roxy-Lea Munn, who goes to Burntstump Seely C of E Primary Academy in Arnold, is aiming to walk 166 miles – a mile for each day she was off school between March and September during the first lockdown last year.

Shirley Gray, her grandma, said: I’m so proud of her.

“She chose to support this project researching illnesses like Alzheimer’s because my father, so her great-grandfather, had Alzheimer’s and my mum had dementia and I also have an uncle who also suffers from Alzheimer’s and we have a family friend with Parkinsons, so its quite a family thing for her.

"All charities need money but because this is about research and looking to the future, we want to see if we can help find a cure for these things."

Roxy-Lea is doing the walks with her parents Kirsty and Rob, using an online app that helps plot routes for them around the countryside near where they live.

Roxy-Lea started out on her walks at the start of this year and has so far done more than 30 miles.

The challenge is running throughout 2021.

"Shirley continued: “The last one they did was 7.3 miles which is a long way for a little six year-old.”

“She’s got her stick for walking and her walking boots and as well as walking, she’s recently started taking a litter picker out with her and doing litter picks as well.

"She’s a real little community hero.”

To support Roxy-Lea, click here.

The research is being carried out by a team at Nottingham Trent University.

On its JustGiving page it said: “There is no cure for Alzheimers, Dementia or Parkinsons.

"We have the unique opportunity to bring together a multi-disciplinary team of experts to explore new and innovative methods to bring about change in the prognosis of these destructive diseases.

“W e believe that the time has come for a completely new approach to increase our knowledge and awareness of how these diseases occur and how we can treat them.”