A young fundraiser from Rishton is hoping to raise as much money for the homeless as possible by walking dogs in her local area.

Ella Wogden, aged eight, has started a charity fundraising campaign this month to raise as many funds as possible for Crossroads in Accrington, part of the Salvation Army.

Crossroads is a service which offers supported accommodation for people between the ages of 16 and 21.

According to Ella’s mum, Kerry O’Donnell, 28, Ella decided she wanted to help the charity as she is driven to help people in need and after hearing about helping charities whilst at Brownies.

Kerry said: “Ella goes to Brownies, and she came to me with her badge book and she mentioned there was a charity one in there and she wanted to do something to help.

"I asked what charity would you like to do, and she said she doesn’t know the names of any charities, so I said what charities are you looking to help and she said ‘I want to help the homeless’.

“I went on Google and did some research and came across the Salvation Army, and Crossroads, and they help with the homeless part of the Salvation Army, so I thought that was perfect and that is where Crossroads came about.

“Ella has always been someone who wants to help people, she has been like this since she was young, all she wants to do is help people and the homeless angle came from her own idea, I don’t know what inspired it.

Lancashire Telegraph: Ella Wogden, 8, playing with a dogElla Wogden, 8, playing with a dog (Image: Kerry O'Donnell)

“We had a dog and it recently died and she used to love going on dog walks with her dad with our dog and she misses it, so said she wants to do some dog walks and she would prefer smaller dogs so she can walk them herself.

“When there is a Christmas Fair nearby in Rishton she always asks if she can do a tombola and donate the money to charity, so she has always been very charity driven.

“Ella has always been very thoughtful and generous, I am just so proud of her, she has always been very caring.”

Speaking about her fundraising efforts, Ella said: "I want to do the dog walking to earn money for charity and I really liked to go on dog walks with Shyla and I really liked going because it was cool, so I thought that maybe I could walk dogs to raise money.

"To receive money for charity from the community would feel really good."

If you would like Ella to walk your dog to help raise funds for Crossroads, contact Kerry Marie O’Donnell or Wagging Tails on Facebook.

If you would like to donate, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ellas-dog-walks-for-crossroads-accrington

If you have a story or something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at chloe.wilson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @chloewjourno.