Boy, four, with cerebral palsy runs more than 100 miles to raise £1,000 for his school

A four-year-old disabled boy has done a mini ‘Captain Tom’ and run over 100 miles to raise money for his school.

Jacob Fallows, who has cerebral palsy, ran laps of his school playground throughout January with other children, friends and family to raise £1,160.

He ran 158km in total, amounting to roughly 5km per day, supported by his walking frame.

Jacob and other runners ran a collective distance of 1,234km – the equivalent of running from John O’Groats to Calais.

He was inspired by his dad, Lee, who did a charity run three years ago – and each year since, the family has banded together to support a local cause.

Lee said: ‘We enjoy raising money for good causes and that’s the primary thing. It’s also demonstrating that our little boy might well be disabled, and there are things that he can’t do – but there’s a huge amount of things he can do.’

The family’s first fundraisers in 2024 and 2025 raised money for Branch House, a charity that has supported Jacob throughout his life.

As Jacob turned four and started primary school in his hometown of Bow, Devon, the family were keen to raise money for school trips and equipment.

‘Jacob started mainstream primary school in September, so he’s midway through his reception year,’ said Lee.

‘We spoke to the school and asked if there was anything we could do. They’d asked that we potentially raise money for the Friends of Bow School.’

Friends of Bow School supports enrichment activities and provides equipment to enhance the syllabus – school trips, equipment and more.

Lee added: ‘We started on the 1st January, and ended on the 31st. We’ve had lots of students, families, friends and grandparents emailing in. They go for a walk in Dartmoor and do 15k, so that gets added to the total distance.’

The family are incredibly proud of Jacob, and all the students and families that got involved.

‘When we do these fundraisers, it brings the community together, and that’s really nice,’ said Lee.

‘Traditional elements of community, looking out for each other and getting involved is still very much important. We’ve raised over £1,100 so far, which is absolutely brilliant – but I want to raise more!’

A link to the fundraiser can be found here.

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