A six-year-old boy from Wrose has been raising money for Marie Curie’s Bradford hospice throughout March.

Joseph Cunningham has so far raised £1,280 in memory of his grandad, James Higgins, who spent his final week at the Bradford hospice.

The whole family were grateful for the help of the hospice in talking to James openly and honestly, managing his pain and looking after the family themselves.

Cira Cunningham, 34, Joseph’s mother, said: “Without them we would have been completely lost.

“Since the death of my father they have continued to support us.”

She added, “Joseph was incredibly close to my dad.”

The last time Joseph saw his grandad, he sat next to him and watched Ghostbusters.

Ms Cunningham was amazed at how much of a fuss staff at the hospice made of her son whenever he visited.

Joseph’s personal moment of inspiration came when a maintenance worker at the hospice gave him a free token to get a hot chocolate after the family couldn’t find any spare change. She said he wanted to raise £50 initially “so boys and girls who go to the hospice can have a free hot chocolate as well.”

Joseph said: “I wanted to raise some money to help people as poorly as my grandad was.”

Joseph has far surpassed this original target.

This has all been through his own initiative and his mum said “he’s really compassionate.”

His school, Idle C of E, run regular charity days and Joseph took this opportunity to suggest a “wear yellow” day.

Pupils paid £1 to come into school wearing something yellow. Overall, the day raised a sum of £365.

Joseph hasn’t just been content with sticking to one idea though. He also has a JustGiving page where the bulk of his total has come from – raising £550 to date.

Alongside this, Joseph delivered Daffodil collection boxes to a number of local sites including: Footsteps Theatre in Idle, Warrior Martial Arts in Bradford, M Y Belle Hair & Beauty in Greengates, Baby Ballet North, Allerton Dental Practice and Jigsaw Out of School Club in Thackley.

The recent snowy weather temporarily halted a collection Joseph had organised at the ACW Garden Centre. But, Joseph is battling on and has rearranged the collection for April 8 at the nostalgic location, where Joseph and family spent every Saturday with grandad James. Last Thursday, Joseph and his family took the money he has raised so far to the hospice.