Burnley schoolboy putting in the hard miles for NHS

Burnley High School Year 8 pupil Jack Walmsley (13) decided he wanted to support NHS workers after seeing their exhausted faces on a television news report.

The young bundle of energy would normally be spending his evenings at his gymnastics club, so when lockdown put a stop to that he decided to take up running, inspired by his keen fell runner dad Phil, who is the headteacher at Burnley High School.

Phil said: "Jack was watching the television when there was a report featuring NHS nurses whose faces were all bruised from their PPE. It really affected him. He then said he wanted to some money to help buy some better equipment.

"Jack is a keen gymnast and normally trains around 24 hours a week in Bury so he had a lot of spare energy. I suggested he come out running with me. He gradually stepped up the distances even though he is not normally a runner.

"He wanted a target so I jokingly suggested 50k in seven days and he said he would! His initial aim was to raise £100 but he's already raised £1,000 in the first two days.

"We have been running together on the moors near our house, which is physically harder than road running but mentally much easier. We're very proud of him."

Jack, who ran 10k and 8k in his first two days, was aiming to complete 8k today.

To support him visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/jacks-50km-challenge?utm_medium=email&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&pc_code=em_db_co2876_v1&rcid=0f1dd5e77df94ceaaa0210623953e8f9