A SHOTTON boy has become a 'global phenomenon' after his local fundraiser continues to grow.

The Leader previously reported that ten-year-old Dylan Valentine wanted to do what he can to help Australia which is being ravaged by the worst wildfires seen in decades.

He is helping his mum Nicky to make koala pin badges to raise funds for the Australian firefighters and the Koala Hospital in Macquarie.

In just 48-hours, they received an 'overwhelming' amount of support as over 300 orders came crashing in.

Since, they have completed over 600 orders, with more coming in every day.

Brian said: "we are still getting orders coming in - he's a busy little beaver. He's made up, a lot of people are interested.

"Considering his original target was to raise £100, we are well going to smash that. We've raised over £500 already and the orders are going up and up and up.

"It's received a lot of attention. We weren't expecting it to go as big as it has with people from across the UK and Australia, not to mention the support from North Wales."

Ten-year-old Dylan also received support from the Australian Embassy after they shared a video on Twitter which received over 14million views.

The family friends in Australia, who sparked Dylan's idea, have also adopted a koala at the koala hospital for Dylan.

Brian added: "The Australian Embassy showed their support as they tweeted a video of Dylan, that was brilliant and we had loads of positive feedback from that. That hit over 14 million views and we had such a positive response from people across the UK and Australia.

"He's turned into a little global phenomenon and has done us proud. He's taken the attention very well for a ten-year-old. There's a lot of pressure on him but he knows he's doing it for a good cause.

"He known that it's only a small difference he is making but if it wasn't for people like him, the little people doing the fundraising, then charities would struggle. It's the little people and the little groups trying to make a difference and it's how it brings communities together, even if those communities are 10,000 miles away.

"Dylan would like to thank everyone for their support and helping to raise money for the cause. He's as happy as anything and everyone is very proud of him."