A little girl called Penny Williams has raised £1,300 for the horse sanctuary she loves by riding her scooter all the way from the War Horse Memorial at Ascot to the Copper Horse on Windsor Long Walk.

Penny, who is only six, was greeted at the end of her hour and a half journey by her special friend - Penny, one of the rescued horses at the Blue Acre sanctuary in Ham Lane, Old Windsor where she volunteers every Sunday morning.

The two have formed a bond and Penny takes special care of her, grooming and riding her.

She really missed her during lockdown when she could not visit the sanctuary and described her return when restrictions eased as 'the best day of my life'.

Since Penny is only six she obviously cannot help out with manual labour at the sanctuary. But she realised that the centre relies on donations and came up with an idea of the sponsored scoot.

When she arrived at the Copper Horse on Sunday - with dad Jamie gamely running behind to ensure she was safe - Penny was greeted by Blue Acre's founder Caron North and of course Penny the horse.

She had set out to raise £1,000 but donations from family and friends here and in America have already reached £1,300 with more coming in.

Penny's mum Claire said: "I'm really proud of her. She is so selfless and always puts helping animals above herself. She has formed a huge bond with Penny the horse and loves taking care of her. Through regular grooming and riding, they have built a relationship formed on trust and respect and therefore a wonderful friendship.

"She doesn’t know this yet but as soon as she is of working age I think she will be appointed the position of chief fundraiser for the charity due to her outstanding dedication and achievement.

"She is such an inspirational young lady and I can’t wait to see what she does next."

You can contribute to Penny's fund raising by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/f/sponsored-scoot?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&rcid=19b3af48a6b24438a167838d2e62013e