A WHITCHURCH youngster has raised nearly £1,000 after completing 5K walk to school.

Thomas Maddison, 4, recently undertook the walk from his home in Whitchurch to Tilstock CE Primary School to raise money for a new reading area.

The journey was completed earlier this month, with Thomas able to raise £945 for the school, having set an original target of £400.

Mum Susie, who accompanied Thomas on the journey, said it was a 'fantastic' achievement.

"His walk raised £945 on gofundme and a little more in direct donations.

"He enjoyed the walk and loved hearing the messages from people who cheered him on, during our rest breaks.

"A big thank you to everyone who donated, it will make an incredible difference to the school, we are blown away.

"Tom's favourite parts of the walk were seeing horses, video calling daddy at work and seeing his teacher, Mrs Finch, waiting for him at the school gate.

"And my favourite parts was when Thomas found a balloon in a field with messages attached.

"The messages were for a man who had passed away, after discussing what this meant for a few minutes Tom decided that the balloon should join us a while so the man wouldn't be lonely.

"It was very sweet."

Meanwhile, Rowena Kaminski, headteacher at Tilstock, also praised Thomas for his efforts.

She said: "Huge congratulations to Thomas who successfully completed his 5K walk and cycle from his home to school, all in aid of raising money to improve our school reading area," she said.

"We are so incredibly proud of Thomas – what resilience it must have taken.

"A huge thank you to everyone who has supported Thomas and kindly donated."