Wigan tot goes the extra mile on charity walk at beauty spot

Two-year-old Seren Nixon wanted to help DoIt4Loui’s £20,000 crowdfunding appeal to fund infant swim survival training for more youngsters.

She has been having lessons with Emma Aspinall, who set up the Hindley Green-based charity after her son drowned while on holiday.

As the toddler enjoys walking, she decided to do a sponsored walk to raise money.

Her dad Tom, from Leigh, said: “She has been having swimming lessons with DoIt4Loui for about a year, doing infant swim survival. We wanted to give back a little because Emma has put a lot of time and effort into Seren and other children and she wanted to raised £10,000 for Sport England to match it. We thought it would be nice for Seren to do something herself.

“We decided to see if she could raise some money by doing a sponsored walk. We have been going out with her walking in our local area during lockdown and Covid. We decided to go to Ingleton Falls in Yorkshire, as it’s where me and my wife got engaged and we like that walk.”

Seren, Tom, mum Kat and 10-month-old sister Alyssa set off on the walk, but discovered that it was further than expected, with a one-way system in place due to the coronavirus pandemic making it five-and-a-half miles.

But with breaks to rest Seren’s legs and fill up on lunch and ice cream, they completed the walk in six hours.

Tom said: “She loved it. She loves walking and with the location and the views, it made it easier to get around because it was more engaging.”

Seren raised £910 for DoIt4Loui, which has now reached its target of £10,000.

Sport England will match that, but fund-raising continues so the charity can teach more children how to stay safe in water.

Emma said she was “made up” with Seren’s effort and presented her with a medal.

She said: “We have reached the target, but there is still money going in and people doing things, so we are going above and beyond.

“It shows that when community comes together, this is what we can do.”

Donate at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/doit4loui---prevention-of-child-drowning

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