SWINDON'S business community has rallied to help a couple fundraise £10,000 in memory of their late son.

Karl and Charlotte Paul from Rodbourne Cheney hope to hit their target by the end of the year and donate the money to Ronald McDonald House.

It will be their way of thanking the charity for providing much-needed support at the toughest time of their life when Oscar was born prematurely at Great Western Hospital.

At just 25 weeks and two days old, he was so small that he had to be transferred to the specialist neonatal unit in Bristol's St Michael's Hospital.

The Pauls stayed by his side as much as possible and slept at the Ronald McDonald House, which relies on donations to help families of critically ill children stay nearby free of charge.

Oscar never became well enough to leave hospital, though the couple have raised more than £30,000 in his memory - some of this went to the charity and some paid for a new incubator at the baby unit.

Charlotte said: “Being able to stay at the house at such an awful time really helped us. Not having to travel up and down the M4 and being close to Oscar for those precious days meant everything to us and we want to offer that same opportunity to others."

Lockdown almost ruined the pair's plans to raise another five-figure sum for charity - but Smarter Media founder Karl asked for help from his friends who were glad to offer their support.

Karl said: “To my amazement one of my business buddies, Andy Rohrer, suggested that we run every day in July to raise funds – starting at one kilometre on July 1 and ramping it up each day to 31km at the end of the month. Then other business friends joined in and now we have six more people who have taken up our July charity challenge.”

Those joining Karl and Andy to date are Moovahome founder Ashley Cain, Centraheat and CAL Solutions founder Lee Flanagan, Honda team leader Marc Stephens, GEL Studios founder Graeme Leighfield, Crossrail railway manager James Linley, and energy industry IT manager Matt Johnson.

They’ve raised just over £4,100 so far. Visit justgiving.com/fundraising/oscars10for10