An Andover woman has raised hundreds of pounds to ‘make a child’s dream come true’.

Iris Andersen raised £342 for a pupil at Mark Way School to take part in their silver Duke of Edinburgh Award. As part of the fundraising, a giant toy unicorn was raffled at Burgo’s Pet World, drawing plenty of interest from users of the shop.

Iris thanked the pet store for hosting her unicorn, saying: “I really appreciate Burgo’s help in letting me have it in the shop. If it hadn’t been for them it would have been very difficult to do it.

“It was lovely they could help and support this child. Richie is always very good at supporting the community.”

Jazmine, from the store, picked the winning ticket for the unicorn on Tuesday, March 9, with Chris James riding away with the stuffed toy.

She said: “It’s lovely to give something back to the community and help out a child who wants to do DoE and help others with his project. We’ve played our little part in this fundraising, and got a lot of strange looks from customers asking about the unicorn, and hopefully we’ll be able to do some more fundraising in the future.”

Another Andover business, C.J Flooring, was also thanked by Iris for contributing generously to the campaign, with owner Cliff Pullen donating hundreds of pounds to the cause.

Vicki, from C.J Flooring, said: “We know that if Iris is supporting something it is for a good cause. Iris works so hard for everybody and anybody who needs help and wanted to give her a hand.

“Knowing it’s going to be difficult to fundraise at this time, we thought that helping this child, for what it will cost, is great and will help him feel more confident about himself.”

Kerry Ward, from Mark Way School, thanked everyone who contributed to their pupil’s Duke of Edinburgh fundraiser.

She said: “The Mark Way School is committed in supporting our young people to enhance their life chances and as a school we would like to thank those who have donated to this cause.

“The young person and their family are delighted to be able to receive such a great amount. Thanks to the outstanding charity work by Iris Andersen we have been able to support the fund for our young person to pursue the Duke of Edinburgh Award which will improve life skills and independence.”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was established in 1956, and has three levels, of which Silver is the middle tier. As part of the award, young people must volunteer in the community, learn or develop a skill, undertake a new physical activity and go on an expedition.