Rock On Tommy: The Normanton lad taking steps to raise money for charity

Tommy Hill, of Normanton, decided on the challenge as he wanted to do some good, while overcoming some mobility issues of his own. While the youngster has no official diagnosis, he suffers from issues relating to his motor functions, so has to walk with the assistance of a frame.

Tommy, a student at the Outwood Academy in Freeston, set himself the target of £100, but has already far exceeded that, with it standing at over £2,100.

Several people have already drawn comparisons between Tommy and West Yorkshire war veteran Captain Sir Tom Moore, who gained popularity by walking for charity throughout lockdown.

"Tommy has struggled this year with his disability. He was down to have an operation on his feet in October but it was cancelled on the day he was due to have it done,” his mother Rachel explained.

"He was very disappointed as he was excited to hopefully walk better after it and also be in less pain. His feet are very painful, he wears splints everyday and insists on walking using his frame but he has a wheelchair too for the days he is tired.”

“We were talking and I was saying that there are many people who are finding life tough right now – I was telling him about a charity clothing bank and their Christmas appeal. Tommy said he would like to take part and support them and we came up with the idea to turn his struggles and disability into something positive.

"He decided to record himself walking 10 unaided steps every morning before school. We set up a crowd funding page and posted about it on social media, we set a target of £100 knowing that things are really tough right now. Very quickly donations started coming in and he smashed the £100 target.”

Tommy plans to buy clothes using the proceeds and delivery them to to the clothing bank next week.