Ten-year-old boy from Midhurst presents cheque for £2,500 to RNLI station after 200 mile sponsored walk

Raising the money was a labour of love for the Midhurst school boy, who is obsessed with the RNLI and sets himself a fundraising challenge every year.

"He loves going to the RNLI station,” Jenny Jackson, Nathan’s aunt, explained. “He loves seeing the boats, watching the videos of them in action, he likes asking questions and, through doing this, he’s met some of the crew which he obviously loved. It just fascinates him, I think, this idea that people might volunteer to save someone they don’t know.”

Although previous challenges have seen him learning to ride a bike and setting off on sponsored walks for other charities, this year Nathan decided to celebrate the RNLI’s 200th anniversary by walking 200 miles in stages from January to March, urging friends, family and residents to sponsor him on his way.

The initial target started out modestly, but it wasn’t long before Nathan was raking in the sponsorships, and the £2,500 he eventually presented to the lifeboat station was so much more than he ever imagined he’d be able to raise. “It sounds a bit holier than thou, but Nathan is really grateful for everything,” Jenny added. “He can’t believe how many people have supported him. I think it’s captured people’s imaginations because he was just so determined to do it. We went out every day in some really tough conditions; when it was snowing, when there was ice on the ground, when it was raining. And he’s just a really nice kid. He went to ask companies for sponsorship himself; he learned more about the lifeboats so he could talk to people about it; he was so enthusiastic about it.”

Nathan walked most of the 200 miles with his aunt and uncle by his side and, although the weather was harsh and the walks frequently long, Jenny said it was a great way to bond with Nathan: “We probably did 95 per cent of them together. The only time we didn’t was if one of us had work and we just had to get the miles in, which was great because it was actually a really nice chance to spend some time together.”