A YOUNG boy from Northleach who thought he was being optimistic when he said he wanted to raise £35 for charity smashed his target by collecting £1,400.

Johnty Tennant, aged nine, ran five laps of Northleach — around four miles — on Sunday, March 16, to raise money for and awareness of prostate cancer.

His grandfather, David Tennant, died last May of the disease aged 69.

“It went really well," said Johnty, who came up with the idea to do a sponsored run all by himself.

"The best part was seeing people I didn’t even know cheering me on."

“My cousins had come from Southampton to watch too and my gran was there. I think my grandad would be proud.”

His proud mum and dad, Liz and Mark, said they were “absolutely gobsmacked” at how much Johnty had managed to raised.

"People have been giving him more than they said they would. He stood up in church in front of a packed congregation to tell everyone about the run and people came forward giving him tenners there and then," said Liz.

"We want to say thank you to all those who donated anonymously as well," she added. "Johnty has raised so much awareness as well as money. If all this means just one man goes out and gets a prostate check, then this has all been worth it."

There is still time to sponsor Johnty at justgiving.co.uk/johntynorthleach