A DEVASTATED father says his son’s cancer treatment fundraiser has been targeted by trolls who have made false promises to donate.

A man claiming to be part of the Brighton and Hove Rotary Club contacted the family of 13-year-old Alexander Goodwin, promising to donate £5,000 to his GoFundMePage.

Jeffery Goodwin, Alex’s father, said he was “grateful” when the man first got in touch to say the charity had agreed a sum to donate in the hope it would help the family reach their £25,000 target.

The Argus: Alex GoodwinAlex Goodwin

But after contact stopped, Jeff said he was left “sad and disappointed” when he realised his son had been the target of a “spiteful” game.

Jeff, 47, said: “He said that he had been following Alex’s story and had been impressed by how brave he was.

“He said he had spoken at a recent Rotary Club meeting and it was agreed unanimously that they would send us a check for £5,000 to support us with this fundraiser.

The Argus: Alex Goodwin, 13Alex Goodwin, 13

“I was obviously very grateful for the support and he went on to say a few days later that the cheque had been issued and sent to us, maintaining this joke.

“About a week later I messaged him to say the cheque had not arrived yet, in case it had been lost, and I never heard anything.

“I then contacted the Rotary Club independently and they responded saying they were sorry, and they had heard nothing about it.

The Argus: Alex's family are hoping to raise £25,000Alex's family are hoping to raise £25,000

“This was the final confirmation that the guy was lying to us and had been playing a very vindictive and very spiteful game.”

A spokeswoman for Brighton Rotary Club said the charity was "deeply distressed" by the scam and emphasised that it had no links to the scammer.

She told The Argus: "We appreciate how upsetting this is for Jeff and his son Alexander to be promised a significant donation from someone claiming to be from a Brighton Rotary Club.

"We are still slightly mystified as to what the benefit would be apart from being cruel to the family, and undermining the integrity of Rotary."

Alex, who lives in Lutterworth in Leicestershire, was diagnosed with a rare bone and soft tissue cancer in 2016.

His family initially raised more than £1.5 million for Alex to go to Kansas City in the United States of America to receive pioneering treatment.

Alex, who uses a wheelchair, is now in remission but needs to return to America for the final stages of his treatment before his care is returned to the NHS.

Jeff, who is a policeman with Warwickshire Police Force, said his family are now in a race against time to reach their target.

He told The Argus: “This is not about me as a dad, this is about my son.

“I hadn’t assumed that someone would be so cruel and that we would be without this extra money.

“The £5,000 would have, ironically, pushed us to reach our target.

“We are now in a position where we have to try and reach that target so we can finalise travel and the hospital expenses.

“I think it’s important that if he is doing this thing as a joke to my son Alex who has been fighting cancer, then what else is he prepared to do within this community?”

To donate to Alex’s fundraiser, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-alexander-heal-improve-and-grow and to find out more information, visit Alex’s Twitter account @Alexs_Journey