Ten-year-old Harborough boy will run up Lubenham Hill 50 times to help children less fortunate

Paddy says he wants to help other children to have nice things.

A Harborough youngster is challenging himself to run up and down a hill 50 times in one day, to help children from struggling families.

Ten-year-old Paddy Collier set himself the task to run up Lubenham Hill to raise money for Home-Start which is celebrating its 50th birthday.

The charity is asking people to do 50 positive things to mark its birthday and Paddy made the decision to run up and down the hill – which stands at around half a kilometre.

Paddy, who is a pupil at St Joseph’s School, said: "I know I'm lucky to have the things I have, so I wanted to help children who don't have as much. I've started training and I'm hoping I can run up and down the hill 50 times in one day."

Paddy’s mum Mel works for the charity which supports families with young children struggling with bereavement, financial insecurity and mental health issues, among others.

Mel said: “I’ve seen first-hand the work the charity does for families who are struggling and it’s important for me my own children are aware of what they have and that others are not so fortunate.”

So far Paddy has raised £350. Mum Mel said seeing the money come in had been spurring on Paddy to keep up his training for the big day on Saturday June 24.

She added: “I’m really proud of him. It’s quite a hard task but he’s so gung-ho about it and I’m amazed at the way he’s taken to training even though it seems quite laborious!”

Visit Paddy’s fundraising page to donate to his cause.