A BRAVE schoolboy who fought leukaemia is in training for a battle of a totally different kind.

Lewis Archibald, eight, is squaring up to little brother Arran, six, to urge people to take part in fundraiser BBQ for Cancer Research UK.

The Evening Times revealed in 2012 that Lewis had been given the all-clear after three years of treatment - to the huge relief of his mum and dad.

Now the whole family is supporting Cancer Research UK to say thank you for Lewis' three years in remission.

Mum Claire said: “The day we were told Lewis was in remission was so special to us. And to know he would no longer need treatment was a huge relief. To celebrate, we went to a Disney On Ice show and to be there as a family with two healthy kids meant everything.

“Now we are determined to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK to help beat this devastating disease.

“The boys loved having a BBQ battle to show cancer who’s the BBQ boss and I hope it encourages others to get involved and dish up some vital funds for Cancer Research UK. It doesn’t matter if you’re serving up a sizzling spread for five or 50 people - every pound you raise will help to bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.”

As exclusively told in our paper, Lewis had been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) when he was just two years old and only 57 days after the birth of little brother Arran.

He had been ill for weeks but his GP said it was nothing more than a virus.

But when Lewis became unable to walk, Claire and dad Michael knew something far more serious was wrong with their little boy.

They were told he had post-viral irritable hip syndrome and took him to a support group where staff realised he had been misdiagnosed and referred him to Glasgow's Yorkhill Hospital for Sick Children.

On July 27, 2009, Lewis was diagnosed with ALL.

Claire, from Finnieston, added: "At the time Lewis was diagnosed, we just couldn’t believe it. He’d not been himself for a little while and I was really worried, but leukaemia was something that hadn’t even entered our minds. It was a total shock.”

Sessions of intense chemotherapy followed and Lewis also had to endure steroid treatments that resulted in the toddler putting on so much weight that he had to wear clothes made for a six-year-old.

However, the youngster has been going from strength to strength since being given the all clear in October 2012.

BBQ hosts are encouraged to invite their friends and family to make a donation to attend, raising money to fund world-class research into all forms of cancer.

The charity is urging people across Glasgow to sign up for their free fundraising pack now so that they can start planning their BBQ bonanzas.

Linda Summerhayes, Cancer Research UK spokeswoman in Scotland, said: “We’d like to thank Lewis and Arran for getting in the BBQ spirit and helping to turn up the heat on cancer.

“We hope that local folk will follow their lead and step up to the grill. It’s time for friends, family, work colleagues and neighbours to come together and become BBQ heroes this summer.

“One in two people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their lives. Thanks to advances in research more people are surviving than ever before, but there’s still more work to be done. That’s why we need men and women in Scotland to cook for a cause this summer and help us to fund life-saving research.”

Cancer Research UK receives no government funding for its research but with help from people in Scotland, the charity is fighting the disease on all fronts.

The charity spends more than £31 million a year in Scotland on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

Cancer Research UK’s BBQ pack contains everything supporters need to plan their perfect BBQ, including recipe ideas, invitations, top tips, decorations, posters and much more.

To sign up to be a BBQ hero and get a free BBQ pack, see www.cruk.org/BBQ