An ambitious musician raised more than £1,500 for charity while he was asleep.

Luke Carey, 19, set himself the challenge of playing 100 gigs in 100 days to raise money for the Alzheimers Society.

The Muswell Hill teenager set up a page where friends could donate on the website Just Giving, but overnight his page was posted to the social media website Reddit where it attracted thousands of hits.

He said: "When I went to bed I had £80. When I woke up I had £1,600. People all over the world were giving me money – I had donations from Hong Kong and Belgium."

Mr Carey, who is currently on his 78th gig, said he would try and play every day even if he were not doing this challenge.

He said: "The idea is to be a musician, that’s something you can’t do without working hard. I’d aim to do a gig a day anyway, so I thought – why not do it for charity?"

The acoustic folk guitarist has arranged a special celebratory evening for his 100th gig, to be held at Underbelly in Hoxton on September 10.

He added:  "It’ll be the final push, all the money on the door will go to the Alzheimers Society, so I’m hoping to really push up the total."