A pretty penny as Aylesbury's Lucy Collins keeps up her collection for Florence Nightingale Hospice

Lucy Collins - pictured with her bottles filled with coins collected for the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity PNL-160701-213205009

The nine-year-old student at Bierton Church of England Combined School began collecting penny coins last year after her dad Nik was diagnosed with cancer and she was impressed by the hospice.

The Bucks Herald reported in November how she had collected £125 in penny coins in a two-foot-tall Coca Cola bottle, and she has now collected another £300 in another three bottles.

Lucy told the Herald: “I’m doing it for my dad.

“I want to make him proud and I like helping people.

“The hospice told me that they were collecting penny coins and I thought that was something I could do too.

“I don’t know when I’ll stop, I want to just keep on collecting money for them.”

Lucy wanted to give particular thanks to the school friends who have donated or helped her to collect money, to Carers In Bucks, and to X-Factor star Sam Bailey who met her at the pantomine and donated £50 to her efforts.

Lucy added: “I want to help charities in the future when I’m grown-up too - I want to help all charities.

“Most of all though I want to make my dad proud of me, and I want people to know how important it is to support what Florence Nightingale Hospice do.”