A five-year-old girl who inspired hundreds of children to join her on a £12,000 fundraising run has won an award from the Prime Minister.
Ada Butterfield set out to run 20 miles by the end of February for the charity that saved her life.
It took the youngster just hours to smash her initial target of £1,000 – and her posse of 20 pals from her home town spiralled to over 230 following a report in the Sunday People.
On Thursday, Ada got a call from No10 to say she had won a Points of Light community award, which recognises people who make a change.
Mum Emma, 40, says: “When I told Ada Boris Johnson was giving her a special award, she was gobsmacked.
“Completely coincidentally, she’s a huge Boris fan.
“She got really upset when he was hospitalised with Covid and even asks for bedtime stories about Boris.”
Emma says the PM has invited Ada to visit him at Downing Street once restrictions are lifted.
The thrilled mum adds: “This news has really capped off an amazing few weeks for Ada.
"While other five-year-olds might dream of meeting Little Mix or a Disney Princess, for Ada, Boris would always be top of her list.”
Ada wanted to raise money for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, which supported her family when she needed life-saving surgery as a baby to repair her bile duct.
Ada, from Allerton Bywater, Leeds, has since raised more than £60,000 for the charity and plans to keep going.
Even though her February challenge is complete, the youngster is still running over a mile a day and insists she is “training for the London Marathon”.
Mum Emma says: “She still believes there’s nothing she can’t do. Tell her she’s too young or too small, and she’ll see it as a challenge.”
Ada’s run was inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore’s £39million walk for the NHS.
The youngster – who is now known as “the famous little Ada” at school – will be raising money for charity again on March 29 when she takes part in a virtual 10k run.
- To support Ada and donate to the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, visit her JustGiving page.
