Sheffield schoolboy runs 35 miles for children's hospital fund

James Urwin, eight, of Norton, has been doing five miles worth of laps around Graves Park every day for the last four days.

He has run 19 miles so far and hopes to raise £820.

His idea to take on the challenge came when he asked his parents for a Lego set to keep him occupied during the lockdown.

However, as the set was so expensive, his dad Gareth told him he would need to find a way to raise the money himself.

After seeing what Captain Tom Moore had done to raise money for the NHS, James decided to try and double the money he needed for the Lego set and give it to Sheffield Children’s Hospital.

His dad Gareth said: “James is getting bored of lockdown and is missing his friends and his football and all the things that he usually does.

“Because he was bored he was pestering us to get him a Lego Star Wars Death Star set, which costs a ridiculous amount of money.

“To teach him a life lesson about money I told him to think of his own way to fund it.

“Because he has been seeing what people have been doing to raise money for the NHS he came up with this idea to get the funds and also to do his bit for charity.”

James has raised close to £400 so far. Half of anything he raises up to £820 will go to the NHS, and any excess money James manages to raise on top of the target will all go to charity.

The Abbey Lane primary school pupil is doing laps of the park with his parents as his daily exercise during the lockdown.

“It’s good exercise for me and his mum, too,” Gareth added. “We just try to keep up with him to be honest.”

You can donate to James’ fundraiser here.