Jacob Newson: Leeds boy raises £17k for RAF before Kent walk

A six-year-old boy has already raised £17,000 for charity ahead of his latest challenge to commemorate the Battle of Britain.

Jacob Newson, is due to walk 30 miles (48km) from RAF Manston in Ramsgate to the Battle of Britain Memorial in Folkestone, Kent, later this month.

He is raising money for the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

Jacob, from Leeds, previously climbed Yorkshire's Pen-y-ghent for the fund last year.

He will walk with his father Andy Newson and is due to complete the two-day challenge on 31 October - his seventh birthday and also the date the Battle of Britain ended 80 years ago.

The World War Two battle in the skies took place from 10 July to 31 October 1940.

Battle of Britain Day is celebrated on 15 September to mark the day RAF Fighter Command claimed what proved to be a decisive victory in the fight against the Luftwaffe.

Jacob met the Red Arrows, the Royal Air Force's aerobatic crew, in 2019.

Coronavirus restrictions meant a walk from Belgium to Dunkirk in northern France has had to be postponed for a UK challenge.

Mr Newson said: "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."

After his climb on Pen-y-ghent Jacob was invited to visit RAF bases.

"He loved it so much he wanted to do another fundraiser," his father, who works for 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."

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