A BIG-hearted Three Towns boy is braced to take on a big cycling challenge in any weather to raise funds for a food bank.

Harry Paterson came home from school one day after hearing about the work at North Ayrshire Food Bank.

He asked his parents, mum Caroline and dad Andrew, what he could do to help.

Andrew said: “Harry is just like his mum, he has a heart of gold.

“Someone from the Ardrossan Church of the Nazarene had visited the school and spoke to them about helping others.

“Everything just sat with him and when he came home he said he wanted to speak with us.

“He said, ‘I really want to help all these people and I don’t know what to do’.”

Andrew and Caroline were overcome with pride and set about coming up with a fundraising plan for Harry.

The seven-year-old pupil at Winton Primary loves cycling, so they decided that Harry and his dad would bike from their home in Saltcoats all the way to Portencross - regardless of the weather.

Andrew said: “It will be a challenge cycling along that beach. Even if we get soaked or blown through a gale, that’s nothing if it is helping others.”

Initially, Andrew and Caroline told just close friends and family, but when Harry’s gran suggested they set up a fundraising page they thought, ‘why not’.

Within two hours Harry’s Just Giving page had beaten the target of £100. Now it is sitting at over £550, with hundreds of messages of support.

Andrew said: “We’re totally over the moon and chuffed.

“In all honesty, it was the way he came to us.

“We were in tears because it’s lovely, it’s just so nice to see folk donating and even more amazing because it was his idea.”

On Saturday, December 5, come rain, hail or shine, Harry and Andrew will tackle the cycle to Portencross.

Caroline and Harry’s siblings, sister Hannah, 10, and Harvey, two, will be riding alongside in the ‘support car’.

The cycle will be livestreamed online and the hope is that all the funds raised will help the North Ayrshire Foodbank provide for those who need its services.

You can donate to the fundraiser by visiting justgiving.com/crowdfunding/harrypaterson211