Six-year-old boy to walk 30 miles for charity wearing RAF flying suit

By Emily Chudy, PA

A six-year-old boy from Leeds has raised thousands of pounds ahead of a two-day walking challenge to commemorate the Battle of Britain.

Jacob Newson will walk 30 miles from RAF Manston in Ramsgate to the Battle of Britain Memorial in Folkestone, Kent, to raise money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

He will finish the challenge with his father Andy Newson on October 31, his seventh birthday and the day the Battle of Britain ended 80 years ago.

With two weeks to go until he undertakes his challenge on October 30 and 31, Jacob has raised more than £17,000 for the charity.

The walk was originally meant to take the six-year-old on a two-day journey from Belgium to Dunkirk in northern France.

With coronavirus travel restrictions in place, the route has been postponed until May 2021, with Jacob now taking on a challenge closer to home.

Mr Newson told the PA news agency: “It’s been a year of highs with him keep getting excited and then upset when we’ve had to postpone.

“So that we could do something this year in the UK, I came up with the Battle of Britain challenge.

“Only Covid restrictions will stop it now so it’s down to whether West Yorkshire or Kent goes to level three.”

Jacob has previously completed challenges for the RAF Benevolent Fund, climbing Pen-y-ghent in Yorkshire last year.

“After Jacob climbed the mountain last year he got invited to some RAF bases as a thanks and he loved it so much he wanted to do another fundraiser,” Mr Newson, an advanced emergency medical technician with Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said.

“He knows he’s raised a lot of money but at six years old he doesn’t know the value or context of the almost £25,000 he’s raised since last year.”

To see donations to the RAF Benevolent Fund, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Andrew-Newson2