YOUNGSTERS got dressed up for a fundraising day yestersay in memory of a Dorset child who died tragically.

Max Miller-Prior died last June aged just 22 months from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.

Since then, mum Gail, of Corfe Mullen, has taken on the task of raising £40,000 to fund a research grant through charity Epilepsy Action into the causes and cures of the condition.

Yesterday, a family fun day organised by Gail’s fundraising group, Team Max, at The Sandbanks Hotel invited children to come dressed as their favourite story character to tie in with World Book Day last Thursday and enjoy singing and dancing with the Funsters.

Ahead of the event Team Max had already raised £18,000 in just five months.

Gail said: “We wanted to do today because all our events are geared towards family and children.

“This is going towards the research grant and we’re hoping today will take us into the £20,000s.

“We’ve got lots of characters like Harry Potter and Peter Pan, we’ve got birds of prey that the children can look at and learn about.

“There’s fun and games for all the kids.

“We’ve had 200 people here today. The hotel and the Funsters have done it all for free and have been great supporters, as have (charity sponsors) Allan and Bath.

“We’re generating a nice platform locally now. In five months we’ve got to £20,000 which is amazing, especially in the financial climate at the moment.

“I would like to say thank you to people for supporting us and hope they keep coming to our events. Hopefully this will become an annual event.”

Find out more at teammax.co.uk.