MORE than £570 has been raised for a national charity by a Westbury schoolboy and a group of his classmates.

Leighton Dyer celebrated his 11th birthday in style with 38 fellow pupils from Westbury Leigh Primary School following the end of their Year six SATS tests.

They all took part in a marathon 15-hour ‘stay awake’ at the Leigh Park Community Centre in Westbury to raise £574.80 for the national charity Asthma UK.

“Some people were falling asleep at times, but we woke them up by shouting their names,” said Leighton, who celebrated his 11th birthday last week.

The stay awake event was his idea and it was backed by his parents, Amey and Russell Dyer, of Leigh Park in Westbury.

The youngsters all played games and other activities overnight on Thursday and Friday May 16 and 17,

Amey, 32, said: “It was Leighton’s idea. He has suffered from asthma since he was two years old and he chose the charity.”

Leighton has to use an inhaler in the morning and at night-time before he goes to bed and takes a tablet every day to help him breathe.

Mrs Dyer and her husband, 36, kept a careful eye on the children and supervised fun activities and party games.

The children were split up into five different teams and points were awarded for each game throughout the night with the winning team receiving a prize.

The games included a cling film wrap, what’s in the balloons, a photo scavenger hunt, truth or dare questions, and a do-nut game, and giant board game, including Jenga and Twister, Snakes and Ladders and Connect 4.

The children also had a midnight feast of party food, including singing Happy Birthday to Leighton, a birthday cake with candles, and bacon baps for breakfast.

Leighton slept for just over three hours from 12.30pm to 3pm on Saturday and then got up again.

Leighton added: “I was tired on Saturday but I’m alright now.

“We raised some sponsorship money through the justgiving campaign online but that has now closed, so I’ve got to speak to the lady at Asthma UK now to make arrangements for a cheque presentation.”

Leighton’s little brother, Maddox, 5, missed all the fun. He stayed with his granddad, Ray Dyer, who also celebrated his birthday on Saturday.

To donate to Leighton’s fun go to justgiving.com/fundraising/leightondyer