AN EIGHT-year-old Basingstoke boy has raised more than £600 to support those affected by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

Raphael Pinto was travelling back from the fracture clinic at Basingstoke hospital after breaking his arm, when he heard the news on the radio about the disaster which killed more than 2,000 people.

The schoolboy told his parents he wanted to raise money to help the hundreds of thousands of people left homeless after the typhoon tore through the central islands of the Philippines on November 8.

His injury ruled out any physical challenges, so his family came up with the idea of going Geocaching, having taken up the hobby 18 months ago.

Geocashing is an outdoor activity in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device to hide and seek containers, called geocaches, anywhere in the world.

They usually contain a logbook in a watertight container, and the finder enters the date they located it and signs it with their established code name before placing it back.

Raphael, a pupil at Fairfields Primary School, discovered a loop of around 25 caches over a six-mile stretch of footpaths in the countryside near his home. Raphael, who has so far generated more than £624 for the appeal through sponsorship, said: “There has been a terrible disaster and I wanted to help.”

To sponsor Raphael, visit justgiving. com/Raphael-J-Pinto.