Derbyshire mum proud as daughter, 6, walks over 300 kilometres to raise awareness about condition that can kill babies

Eliza-Jo Smith, from Kirk Hallam, near Ilkeston walked 300 kilometres (186 miles) in a month to raise funds and awareness for Group B strep (GBS), a condition that kills 1 in 17,000 babies born in the UK each year with one baby a week dying from GBS.

Eliza-Jo who has low immunity because she suffers from GBS herself, and also struggles with asthma, has been helping her mum support charity in the past but wanted to organise her own challenge.

She is raising funds via her GoFundMe page. She also has a collection pot at That Weird Shop at Sneinton, Eliza-Jo's favourite store.

Mum, Heaven-Lei Smith, 26, said: “I’m very proud of her, she is amazing. I do a lot of charity work and she always helps me, but last month, she told me now that she's six, she can do a fundraiser all by herself. Of course, I went with her for walks and helped to set up the fundraising page, but she wanted to be the one in charge this time

"She told me that she wanted to help babies like herself, who were born with Group B Strep, so all donations will be going to Group B Strep Support. Strep B, it's a very, very common infection, but it can be dangerous for babies. Most of the time it's detected during labour and that’s too late to do anything.

"There are millions of women that have to go through this and there are thousands of babies that don't make it because of strep B. I think it is important to raise awareness so people can get checked early on in pregnancy. If it is detected early, it is possible to prevent it from being spread to your baby, but if it's not helped early on in pregnancy, then you're going to end up passing it, like I, unfortunately, did pass it to Eliza.

“Eliza-Jo knows that the condition makes some babies very ill and sometimes they don't make it at all, so she is passionate about raising awareness and funds to make sure the babies and their families get the support that they need.”

Eliza-Jo has already beaten her aim – as she walked 190 miles, but she hopes to go for more walks. She is planning to walk as many miles as possible in Shipley Park this Sunday, and she will take her charity pot and T-shirt, to get donations on the day.

Heaven-Lei added: “She has asthma so walking is a bit of a push for her but she is so happy about helping others that she wants to go on. She is very thankful for all the donations and hopes to collect more. I told her that I posted about her fundraiser on Facebook and she was over the moon. It just makes her so happy to know that thanks to her, people will find out more about the condition.”