Rachel, 13, and Rebecca Bone, 11, who attend St Richard's Catholic College, joined in the Macmillan World's Biggest Coffee Morning event as a tribute to Ann Sandeman.

They said: "The person who inspired us to have a coffee event was our aunt Annie. She is 36, pregnant, and been diagnosed with pregnancy associated breast cancer.

"She has been so brave and positive throughout these last weeks and we wanted to show her that we are all supporting her in the difficult months to come."

Rebecca held her fund-raising event on Saturday at Park Road Methodist Church Hall, organising a raffle and Guess the Doll's Name competition, as well as selling home baked cakes with the teas and coffees.

Rachel held a similar event on Sunday at St Leonards home with over 70 people attending. Between them, they raised nearly £600 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Their proud aunt, Ann, who lives in Hastings, said: "My husband Paul and I would like to thank the girls for their enormous effort and gesture." She added: "It's not just about raising money it's about creating awareness."

Ann made the shock discovery she had a rare form of breast cancer seven weeks ago when she was 14 weeks pregnant. She has undergone surgery and started chemotherapy this week.