PEOPLE in their hundreds have rallied to support a special charity launched in the name of inspirational six-year-old Eastleigh schoolgirl Sophie Barringer.

A sell-out summer ball at the Rose Bowl in West End at the weekend raised a staggering £11,680 in aid of Sophie's Appeal for the Piam Brown Ward at Southampton General Hospital.

As reported by the Daily Echo, Sophie's bravery has seen her through major surgery, which she was not expected to survive, and is currently helping her to cope with a punishing regime of intensive chemotherapy treatment.

In December Sophie underwent a ten-hour operation which removed her left kidney and took away cancer from her heart, liver and right kidney.

If she's lucky, Sophie, of Desborough Road, has just two weeks out of five when she is not in hospital.

But the Eastleigh youngster with a zest for life loves going to school when she is able and, although fully aware that she has cancer, is the first person to say that she wants to help others with the illness.

Now Sophie's Appeal is set to do just that, following the soaraway success of the summer ball, which was organised by her parents Mike and Lin, plus a band of helpers.

The ball was a follow-up to a Christmas party, which was organised by Lin and a few friends to keep busy prior to the courageous youngster's operation.

Lin explained: "I said whatever happens with Sophie, we need something to focus on and I want to do a summer ball."

But the success of the event - which saw a raffle of prizes such as a signed Hampshire Cricket bat, signed Saints and Pompey shirts plus a night out at The Dorchester - raise £3,700, exceeded Lin's wildest expectations.

She said: "I was thinking I would be lucky to get ten people there. I was absolutely over the moon. It was so wonderful to see so many people having such a good time. Now we are talking about doing another one next year. The band are prepared to do it free of charge."

People from the world of business, plus family and friends made the event a 350-ticket sell out and enjoyed an evening of music by nine-piece soul band Maddison Heights.

Nearly £250 of the total netted came from a special assembly at Eastleigh's Norwood Primary School linked to a non-uniform day to celebrate Sophie's courage.

Sophie had planned the assembly meticulously with the help of her head teacher Donna Shave and a representative from the Piam Brown Ward.

She was all set to explain to her fellow pupils just how it felt having to have treatment for cancer and how it was being in hospital.

But when the big day arrived, Sophie was in hospital having a check on her chemotherapy line and because she was running a high temperature.