Basingstoke pre-school boy climbing Snowdonia for charity

Riley Caton, four, and his assistance dog Narla have already raised hundreds of pounds ahead of their trek up Snowdonia in support of Helping Dogs and Cats, a non-profit animal rescue in Feathers Lane.

Young Riley, who has sensory needs, comes from a family of animal lovers and was able to overcome situations where he would become overstimulated, such as having a haircut, thanks to the presence and calming nature of Narla, who was trained by the Basingstoke charity.

In an effort to give back to the charity that helped him, Riley decided to climb a mountain with Narla and his mother, Nikita Harrison, who is documenting their progress on Facebook.

Riley has had Narla for around two years (Image: Nikita Harrison)

She said: "Riley is a super big, outdoorsy animal lover. We've got horses, cats, dogs, so he's always outside.

"We thought it would be nice to do something together, as a mother and son project. We chose to support Helping Dogs and Cats because Riley is a massive animal lover, and when he got Narla, the first thing he did was take her to the Helping Dogs and Cats stand at a summer fete.

"The people who trained Narla are volunteers at the charity, and without funding, they won't be able to do the work that they do, so we chose them. That, and the fact that Riley loved their logo."

Information about Riley's challenge, which is pencilled in to take place in June, but may be pushed back depending on how training progresses, was only shared online on December 30, but has already raised £310. Donate to his fundraiser by visiting: https://www.gofundme.com/

Nikita expressed her surprise at the amount of money which was donated after she set up the Facebook group: Little Legs, Big Summit, which she is using to document Riley's journey.

Out for a walk (Image: Nikita Harrison)

"We were totally blown away," Nikita added, "We already raised £300 and our target is £400, and we haven't even started yet."

Nikita explained that she, Riley and Narla will start their training in the coming days, with a number of walks planned over the next few months to help build his stamina.

She said: "My dad is ex-military, so he will be helping us with training, and I have friends who are also happy to help and even offered to come along with us in June.

"We went to Go Outdoors the other day to buy new equipment, I made a video of Riley with his new walking boots and shared it on Facebook.

"He's just looking forward to getting started."