PARENTS Richard and Caroline Cross have been overwhelmed by the support for a muddy challenge being taken on by their daughter and her friends.

Amelia Cross, 13, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in April, and needs five injections a day and tests her blood between 10 and 15 times daily.

The diagnosis came as a huge shock to her parents, and Amelia, from Wilmslow, is taking on the One Fun Run, a 2.5-kilometre obstacle course, tomorrow, Sunday, to raise money for a charity campaigning for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

She will be taking on the challenge with her sister Imogen, seven friends and four mums, including Caroline.

The One Fun Run at Wythenshawe Park is raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), and last year’s obstacle race raised £10,000 for the charity.

Amelia’s initial target was £500, but it was raised to £1,500 due to the huge support for her challenge, and was increased again to £2,000.

Since then the total has rocketed to £3,218 in the last few days, with 106 people donating, and the total rises to £3,770 when Gift Aid is added.

The £3,000 mark was passed following an anonymous £400 donation.

People are invited to support Amelia by visiting uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=Ameliasarmy17&isTeam=true

Amelia's mum Caroline said today, Wednesday: "We cannot believe the number of donations we have received to date, and are hoping to exceed £3,000.

"However just as important is we have significantly raised awareness of JDRF and Type1 Diabetes which have equal parity... who knows where the fund will be by Sunday?"

Amelia attends Wilmslow High School, and the fundraising has been boosted by a cake sale at Ashdene Primary School, where her sister Imogen is a pupil, which raised £300.

Also taking part in the run are Imogen O’Donnel, Charlotte Soloman, Mia Thornton, Heather Murray, Bee Swindell and Evie Kerr, all eight, and Annie Bracken, 13, along with Amelia’s mum, Charlotte’s mum Helen, who came up with the idea, Evie’s mum Nicki and Imogen O’Donnel’s mum Jenny.

“We have been overwhelmed, delighted and humbled by the support we have had for the run,” said Richard.

“We want to raise money for a great cause which helps so many more than just us.

“Amelia was diagnosed just over five months ago, so this is really the start of doing something positive, but equally important to us is the raising of awareness.

“There is a lot of news about Type 2 Diabetes and its prevalence, and my view is that generally people do not understand the difference between Type 2 and Type 1.

“We did not realise the symptoms, and as a result Amelia ended up in a serious condition.

“She is fine now, although dependent upon her insulin injections, blood tests and operating a rigorous routine to measure when and what she eats versus her blood sugar and insulin levels.”

"A really big thank you to all of the parents and children for the massive donations of cakes which raised £300 for JDRF.

"The sheer number of people who baked cakes, mums, dads and children, means that there are too many names to mention.

"We really thought that with so many cakes we would have plenty left over, but the children, armed with their spending money managed to demolish everything, except two slices.

"Many came back round again, but we didn’t tell their mums and dads!

"We would also like to say a really big thank you to Ashdene Primary School for being so supportive and allowing the whole school to participate.

"There seemed to be rather a lot of teachers on playground duty where the cake sale took place and it was great to see them also joining in with the cake-eating fun. We have been overwhelmed with the support we have had."