Sheffield boy, 12, honours 'inspiring' Captain Tobias with stamp design

Danny Whiteland said Tobias deserves to be given the recognition for his immense contribution and hard work to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charities.

He said: "When I read about his story, he was just inspiring. He (Tobias) heard about the story about Captain Tom (who raised millions of pounds for the NHS), so he decided to do it himself.

"He is as inspiring as Captain Tom. He deserves to be on the stamp. I think he's just awesome in general.

"I like how he doesn't really care about his disabilities and I'm just amazed at how much he has raised money for the charities," he said.

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The Year 8 pupil, who goes to Birkdale Senior School, said he did the design as part of the school's art project.

His design also captured Tobias' attention, who tweeted about it on Sunday.

He said: "A kid called Danny from Birkdale School had an art project at school to design a stamp for the Royal Mail competition. He had to draw a Covid hero. He chose me!

"Thanks Danny, I'm chuffed to bits. What do you think of his work, I think it's awesome?"

Danny's mum, 45-year-old Dana, said they were surprised when Tobias himself posted the picture of the design on his Twitter.

"We were surprised and Danny felt proud of himself as well. Danny said it's not about him winning, but he hopes to win it so Tobias gets to be on the stamp,” she said.

"He chose Captain Tobias, someone who is not only local but also a child and I think he's 11 and not too far apart in age.

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"I think (Captain Tobias) deserves all of the praise. He's doing a fabulous job."

The competition was launched by the Royal Mail in April and schoolchildren were encouraged to design a stamp to show who their 'Covid Hero' is.

The hero could be anyone who worked extra hard during the pandemic such as teachers, cleaners, supermarket workers or doctors and nurses.

The competition closed on May 28 and the winners will be announced in the autumn.