FOUR-YEAR-OLD Beatrix Brown has raised almost £1,400 for a York Hospital charity by going out on bike rides dressed in a range of fancy dress outfits - only weeks after learning to ride her bicycle without stabilisers.

Her mother, Charlotte Brown, of Barlby, near Selby, said Beatrix, a reception pupil at Barlby Community Primary School, had dressed up as characters such as Elsa and Anna from Frozen, a nurse and even as an evacuee on VE Day.

“She has now raised almost £1,400 for the York Teaching Hospital Charity,” said Charlotte. “She only learnt to ride her bike without stabilisers during lockdown and came up with the idea herself.”

She said Beatrix’s father Dave had taught her to ride during a day of intensive training at the start of the lockdown, and since then she had been taken out on a regular basis to learn about road safety while there was little traffic about..

She said there was a boy in the village who had raised money by running while dressed as superheroes and Beatrix had said she wanted to do something like that, and then had the idea of cycling wearing different costumes.

“She loves dressing up and putting on fancy dress, and we had most of the costumes, so the only one we have purchased is one that she wore on VE Day,” she said.

“I thought she might raise £20 from relatives but the word got around, and she was featured on Minster FM and we set up a justgiving page, https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/charlotte-brown61, and the money poured in.” One donor commented: “Well done, what a little star. All best wishes to the York Hospital and staff.”

Charlotte, who works as a nurse at the hospital but is currently on maternity leave after the recent birth of Beatrix’s brother Jacob, said she was lucky to be at home keeping safe with her husband and children when many of her colleagues were out on the front line, working tirelessly to help the patients in their care.