A HARRY Potter-loving teenager from has raised over £3,000 for the charity set up by J.K. Rowling to help institutionalised children around the world.

Johnnie Blue, 16, and his 14-year-old cousin Megan Cochrane, took on Arran’s highest peak, Goatfell, at the end of last month and they smashed through their target with relative ease with help from some people involved with Harry Potter.

Johnnie, from Dalry, expained: “The last three months have been spent planning for the climb, mostly getting people involved who can help make money.

“I’ve had involvement from Warner Bros. Studio Tour London, who offered a four person trip to the tour as a prize for someone who donated. I also had involvement from Chris Rankin, who played Percy Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, who offered autographs to random people who donated.

“Lumos and J.K. Rowling have been involved since the beginning. Jo regularly retweeted my fundraising link, and encouraged me by saying how well it was going.

“She also wished me good luck before I left for Arran and said how amazing my photos from the summit were, which was incredible.

“She also sent me a handwritten note a couple of weeks before the climb, praising me, which really meant a lot to me.” This wasn’t the first time that Johnnie had received a handwritten letter from the author, and a story on that was featured in the Herald earlier this year. It was the inspiration for the climb after she mentioned that she had family links to the island.

Johnnie described what he felt about the fundraising and how surprising it was to raise so much.

He said: “We left for Arran on Friday, May 29, the day I finished my last exam and last ever day at high school. We stayed at Auchrannie Resort in Brodick which was amazing. I was overjoyed when I reached £250, never mind £3,000. If you’d told me a month ago that I would surpass £3,000 I wouldn’t have believed you.

“I’ve had donations from India, the USA, Germany and everywhere in between. The support from everyone along the way has been wonderful, I really didn’t expect it at all.

“I raised over 1,100 per cent of my original target amount of £250. I was also in the top 3 per cent most successful fundraisers in May on JustGiving!

“The money from the fundraiser will go directly to Lumos, the charity founded by J.K. Rowling, who work to end the systematic institutionalisation of children around the world. Over the past five years they have already reduced the number of children admitted to institutions in Bulgaria by 67 per cent.

“I really believe strongly in everything Lumos does and I am so happy that the money I’ve raised is going to help so many people.

“It takes £250 to remove a child from an institution and install them back into a loving home, hence the target amount. I can’t wait to hear updates from Lumos on how the money is helping. The entire experience has shown me how kind people can be. People I’d never spoken to before have donated literally hundreds of pounds to my fundraiser because they’d been touched by my story.

“I really couldn’t wholly take credit for the success of the project as it really has been a group effort from all the wonderful people who helped me along the way – many hands make light work.” After finalising the total, Johnnie sent it off, on parchment scroll of course, to J.K. Rowling so that she can see first hand what he has done for her charity.