Desborough boy challenges himself to walk 60 miles in a month to support food banks

An eight-year-old boy from Desborough has challenged himself to walk 60 miles in May to raise money for food banks.

Jay Baker decided he wanted to do something to support others during this challenging time and set himself the walking challenge to raise money for The Trussell Trust.

The trust is a nationwide network of food banks including ones in Kettering and Corby. Jay initially set himself a target of £100 but has already smashed this less than a week in to his challenge.

So far, his JustGiving page has raised £400 just a week into his month-long challenge.

Jay's mum Sarah said: "I actually cannot believe it, he has done so well, we are so proud of him.

"He is really overwhelmed by how much he has raised."

Jay has currently walked 18 miles of his challenge, so not only has he smashed his fundraising target but he is also well on track to meet his 60 mile goal.

Sarah said: "His uncle Shaun had just done the 2.6 challenge, he did some running in his garden after the London marathon was cancelled and Jay had seen that.

"Obviously Captain Tom Moore is a great big thing in the news with how much he had raised and school had said about people that inspire you and we were talking about it and how we could raise money for people that need help."

Jay decided to set a walking challenge because it is something he can do in his daily exercise.

To decide on his charity, Sarah said Jay took a look on JustGiving to get an idea for which charities might need more fundraising. He saw the NHS Charities are receiving a lot of support at the moment, along with other charities.

Jay settled on The Trussell Trust food banks because they have local banks in Kettering and Corby and they are providing for people in need at the moment.

Sarah said: "Everybody needs food, people aren't always in a position where they can get food easily. Food bills have gone up because we are all at home.

"We are fortunate that we're ok, but for a lot of people it's a struggle."

Jay's JustGiving page said: "More and more people are being forced to use food banks because they cannot afford the basics in life.

"Last year, food banks in the Trussell Trusts network provided 1.6 million three-day emergency food parcels to people in crisis, with over 500,000 of these going to children. This was an increase of almost 20 per cent on the previous year."

The coronavirus crisis means increasing number of people are turning to support from their local food bank, The Trussell Trust said: "As food bank staff and volunteers work to source and distribute food to people who need support, their resources are becoming increasingly stretched as they come under additional pressure.

"We're working closely with our network of over 1,200 food banks to work out how we can best support each food bank in the coming months to make sure that they're able to continue to help people in crisis in their local communities."

Jay's JustGiving page can be found here.