Pontypool schoolboy walks a marathon in a week to raise money for animal sanctuary

Toby Malson, 10, is no stranger to fundraising, having organised a Christmas shoebox appeal for various animal charities since he was seven.

And after seeing an appeal from his local animal sanctuary, he decided to take on his own fundraising challenge.

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“On Facebook I saw people were walking or running a marathon for the 2.6 challenge,” said Toby. “I thought what if we could raise some money for All Creatures Great and Small because they have been struggling for donations since the lockdown.”

“We had a family discussion of what we were going to do about it. Instead of doing 2.6 miles, Toby suggested we should just do a marathon,” said dad Gareth.

“We spread it over a week, running three miles on two occasions and we walked the rest.

(Toby Malson, 10, out with his dog Tara raising money for All Creatures Great and Small Animal Sanctuary. Picture: Gareth Malson.)

“We took Tara, our Romanian rescue dog with us. She’s been enjoying the exercise with us.

“We’ve been going out to places where we are not around other people and within a reasonable distance of our home, and we’ve been going either early in the morning or late in the evening.

“On the last leg, it was tipping it down, but Toby was still carrying on going. We are so proud of him and his mindset, especially at a time like this where children’s mental health is so important.

“Toby is very mindful of the work of the NHS and other key workers, but he is also mindful of who is looking after these animals at this time, and that people might not be donating to them as money is quite tight now.

(Young fundraiser Toby Malson has encouraged everyone to stay safe during the lockdown. Picture: Gareth Malson.)

“If he can bring some sunshine by doing this fundraiser and along the way raise some money for the animals then that is wonderful.”

As Toby’s school is usually a drop off point for his fundraisers, he has been emailing teachers and they have been helping with donations and getting the word out.

“Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and stay safe,” he said.

Kate Carlyle, a trustee at the sanctuary, said: “We are so grateful to Toby for his fundraising efforts. He really is a star.

“As a consequence of the pandemic, we have lost all our main sources of funding - we have had to shut our charity shops; we cannot hold events and have had to close our wonderful sanctuary to visitors.

“We estimate that we are losing over £10,000 per month.

“With our running costs being so high, we are concerned for the future of the sanctuary and its purpose, which is to help animals in need.

“Our supporters have been wonderful, including Toby, in helping us raise much needed funds.

“The animals themselves continue to make us smile through this difficult time and they are looking forward to meeting some new visitors when we are able to re-open our gates.

“If people would like to donate to us, please visit our website allcreaturesgreatandsmall.org.”

You can find out more about Toby's fundraiser, or donate, at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tobysmarathon