Mansfield Woodhouse boy's challenge to help make wishes come true for poorly children

Little Jak, who lives with his mum Katy Bray, dad Paul Spate and older sister Fae Spate, has been walking, jogging and running ‘come rain or shine’ at Berry Hill Park to raise money for the When You Wish Upon a Star charity.

The Abbey Primary School pupil’s track task started on October 19 and finished on October 28. It saw him increasing his distances, on day one his first lap took him two minutes and ten seconds, by day four he increased his distance to one mile and by day 10, he was doing two and a half miles, the last one taking 49 minutes and 34 seconds.Jak was inspired to think of his own challenge after doing a project at school and seeing friends fundraising. His class mates joined him on his final day, and he was cheered on by family and friends.

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His mum Katy Bray (also known as Kolesniak) said: “Jak decided to do a lap running challenge and chose the charity himself. His target was £100, he's extremely happy that he has already doubled that raising £200.

“As his mum I am beyond proud, I will admit. I didn't realise how much of a challenge it was or the actual distance he would do. Over 10 days he has covered around 13 miles!

“He has enjoyed every minute of it, so standing in the rain getting wet through and get numb hands from videoing it has made it all worth it just to see the smile on his face, especially on the last day, when he had his team of supporters cheering him on and joining in with him. Jak is already thinking about his next challenge and wants to go big and go to the top of Ben Nevis!”

Jak has a Go Fund Me page, open until November 5. Jak’s activities have been uploaded on Facebook where there is a link for donations.

The When You Wish Upon a Star charity was founded in Nottingham by Barbara White OBE. Since 1990 more than 17,500 wishes nationwide have been granted, the most popular wishes are swimming with dolphins and trips to Disney World.