THE cast of a popular children’s show took to the skies to raise money in memory of a Selby boy, who died from a childhood cancer.

Performers from the Gruffalo Live met four-year-old Thomas Cammack only days before he died from neuroblastoma, earlier this year.

They were so saddened by the news of his death that they pledged to raise £2,500 for Families Against Neuroblastoma – the charity which supported Thomas’s family during his year-long illness.

The cast of the show, including Owen Guerin (The Gruffalo), Timothy Richey (Fox, Owl and Snake), Josie Cerise (Mouse), understudy Daniel Foxsmith, and company manager Heather Rose all took part in the jump on Thursday to help the charity.

Owen said: “I’ve never done anything like that before.

“Apparently it was minus six celsius at the top of the jump, but inside the Gruffalo suit I was toasty warm.

“It was a brilliant day. It rained a bit before we went up, and we thought we might not go, but we were only delayed for about half an hour.”

The team have already raised just over £2,950, far more than they were aiming for when they set up the jump, and they also paid for the experience themselves so that all donations went straight to the charity.

Toni Wood, Thomas’s mother, said: “When I saw the picture, I thought it was exactly what Thomas would have found really, really funny.

“We knew they would be jumping out of the plane, but seeing the photo of the Gruffalo in costume, Thomas would have loved it.”

Owen said the team were still mentioning the charity at the end of every performance on the UK tour, and hoped to continue raising funds and awareness.

He said: “If we can help at all, it’s a big thing, if we can make someone’s life just a little bit easier.

“We’re hitting sellout theatres and telling all of them about this aggressive childhood cancer, but if four or five of each audience take note, it’s worth it.”

Toni said: “I think it’s a really great achievement, especially in Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, so they’ve done really well.

“It’s nice to be keeping the awareness going, with something that gets everyone’s attention.”

Donations can still be made to the team at justgiving.com/The-Gruffalo-Jumps