Wigan schoolboy is running 125 miles to raise money for Derian House children's hospice

Up Holland High School pupil Joel Morley, 12, is running 125 miles in 31 days and wants to raise enough money for Derian House children’s hospice, in Chorley, to be able to send a family on holiday.

Joel, who lives with his mum, dad and three brothers, hit the road on Monday, August 1 and plans to run four or more miles every day this month.

He hopes to raise £1,000 for the hospice.

The determined youngster caught the running bug during the Covid-19 lockdown as it got him out of the house and gave him a focus.

He is also a budding actor and completed his first fund-raising run of 80 miles for the local performing Artz centre, where he prepared his first big panto role earlier this year.

With that under his belt, Joel decided to do something for Derian House, a hospice that provides respite and end-of-life care to more than 450 children across the North West.

The money would allow Derian House to offer a family a week’s stay in their holiday lodges for free.

This is not the first time Joel has taken on a challenge for the hospice – last year he aimed to run 100 miles in 50 days, completing it with days to spare.

Instead of stopping, he carried on running, racking up an extra 20 miles and raising just over £2,000 for the charity.

Joel said: “I’m very lucky to be healthy and happy. I realise that other children don’t have the same opportunities that I do.

“I did some research and when I found out about Derian House and all that they do, I knew that was the charity I wanted to help.

"You can see that it is a really nice place where children can go to make the most of it and I want to raise as much as I can for them.

“I want to raise even more than I did last year for the children to enjoy themselves and to make the most of their time with their families.”

Joel’s mum Katie Morley, 40, said: “Friends and local people have been running alongside Joel and supporting him which is incredible to see. He’s got so much energy. You can be running up a hill with him and he’ll be chatting away to you while you’re struggling for breath!

“We’ve also had a lot of prize donations from local business in support of Joel, so once he has completed his 125 miles we’re going to hold a small party to raffle them off and raise even more for Derian House.”

Ann-Marie Fishwick, community fund-raiser at Derian House, said: “We are so grateful to Joel for choosing to raise money for our children and young people here at Derian.

“Just 17 per cent of our funding comes from the Government so we rely on the kindness of people like Joel who go the extra mile to help us to raise the vital funds we need.

"We think he is an incredibly brave and determined young man and wish him luck!”

Donate to Joel’s challenge at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Katie-Louise25