A Portland mother has raised hundreds of pounds for the charity that helped her son battle leukaemia.

Rory Kirkland, nine, was diagnosed with leukaemia in November 2009 and underwent months of treatment, including chemotherapy and surgery.

In March, 2010, Rory had a bone marrow transplant at Bristol Hospital after a donor came forward through the Anthony Nolan Trust.

This Christmas his mum, Lyn Kirkland, will be collecting money for CLIC Sargent, a charity that supports families whose children have cancer.

She said: “Now Rory’s back to school and doing really well, he’s riding his bike and doing all the things boys do.

“He’s 19 months post transplant and sometimes he still gets tired just at the drop of a hat but mainly he’s been really well.

“I’m trying to keep the fundraising going, just because Rory’s all right now doesn’t mean the charity doesn’t need support.

“We’re not doing it for Rory, it’s for the other people who need it.”

Mrs Kirkland and a group of friends will be outside Tesco's in Dorchester collecting on behalf of CLIC Sargent’s Big Bucket collection 2011 on Saturday, December 10 from 9am to 6pm.

“We did it last year and it was great, we got lots of positive comments from people as they walked past and raised £500 in a day,” the mother of two said. “Most of the girls are either from the school or friends of the family who know what we’ve gone through.

“Everyone’s been so supportive and people who know our situation just want to help.”

Rory lives with dad Hamish, mum Lyn and his big brother Calum in High Street, Southwell and over the years the whole community has helped support the family through sponsored events.

Lyn added: “The last two years have just been a nightmare and we know lots of other friends whose children didn’t make it through the surgery.

“It’s awful, just awful – we couldn’t have got through it without CLIC Sargent. We’ve done what we can for them – me and Hamish give every month and so many people have done so much for the family it’s hard to say how much money we’ve even raised in total.”

Anna Penwarden, CLIC Sargent Big Bucket collection manager said: “CLIC Sargent would like to say a huge thank you to Lyn.”