A family from Eltham are trying to raise £10,000 in a single day to help support Demelza's children hospice, which has had its income slashed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kevin Robbins' nephew Sonny died in 2012, aged four, after the family had been supported by Demelza throughout his life.
Now the Robbins family have set up 'the 100 challenge', asking 100 people to commit to fundraising £100 through sponsored activities in order to help fund Demelza's services.
The charity provides specialist care and support for children with terminal conditions and their families throughout south east London and Kent.
The two hospices, one in Eltham and the other in Sittingbourne, are continuing to offer care, virtual support, end of life care and bereavement services despite the pandemic.
But with all 27 of its retail outlets closing, and fundraising events cancelled for the foreseeable future, the charity's income has taken a huge hit.
Kevin and the rest of his family now want to raise £10,000 in a single day to help the hospice.
"Sonny lived up to his name in every way, from the minute he was born he radiated an energy that was like no other, his smile was huge and even though he couldn't speak, he had a huge personality that was full of cheekiness.
"When Sonny passed away it was the darkest moment our family had ever experienced but in those first few days without Sonny, Demelza was there for us all.
"As a family who have witnessed the vital work they do, and to honour Sonny’s memory and make sure Demelza’s fantastic service continues throughout this crisis and beyond, we have set up the “100 challenge”.
The challenge is for 100 people to commit to raising £100 each by doing their sponsored activity for one hour on a specified day.
This includes anything, you could do 100 laps of your garden, 100 basketball hoops, bake 100 cupcakes, do 100 sit ups or climb stairs for an hour.
Kevin will aim to join up the challenge across a virtual zoom meeting to help motivate participants and encourage them to share their challenges.
Hayley Richardson, deputy director of fundraising at Demelza, said: "A massive thanks goes out to the Robbins family for sharing Sonny’s story and their innovative way of fundraising to support Demelza.”
She added that 88% of the charity's funding comes from generous supporters, and whilst the pandemic means fundraising has taken a "huge hit", "we are working hard to develop new ways of raising money to support services now and in the future."
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