A SIX-year-old from Pamber Heath is looking to raise funds and awareness for charity.

Jessica Hallewell is looking to support an important cause for Basingstoke by using her talents in arts and crafts to raise money for Ark Day, raising £140 so far.

The arty Silchester Primary School pupil will be using her time over May half term to support the cause by making custom pictures to order, from May 29 until Ark Day on June 21.

Jessica’s mother Vikki Hallewell said: “She loves drawing and even has her own desk to draw on. She has really been getting into raising money charity and learning more about different charities.”

Jessica has been receiving orders from as far afield as London for her pictures, which are custom-made as per the request of each person, in return for a donation to the cause.

So far, Jessica has done 10 pictures for donors, with a further 10 orders still to be made, featuring requests from pets and family members.

Vikki added: “We spoke about raising money for the charity in several different ways, including making bracelets when we came up with the idea of making the pictures.

“I’m really proud of her and she is proud of herself. We initially put the fundraising target at £100, but she managed to hit that within four hours of setting up the fundraising page. So far, she has managed to get £140 and that is still going up.”

Jessica will be taking orders until the until Ark Day itself, June 21.

To place an order or to donate, visit Jessica’s Just Giving page at justgiving.com/fundraising/Picturesforthepiggy, or her Facebook page at facebook.com/picturesforthepiggy.

Ark Day has been organised by the Ark Cancer Centre Charity, to raise funds and awareness of the charity’s £5million campaign to help fund a new NHS cancer treatment centre in Basingstoke.

The day itself, on June 21, is a 24-hour-long fundraising event which will see many of the borough’s residents and businesses get involved in many different ways to help the project.