Penrith teenager pulls kayak 26 miles in marathon Beep Doctors fundraising effort

A 13-year-old boy has raised nearly £5000 for Cumbria Beep Doctors by towing his kayak around the streets of Penrith for 24 hours.

Tom Taylor walked just over a mile every hour having seen a similar challenge completed online by YouTuber Beau Miles.

In the process, he and his family fundraised in Penrith town centre, gathering over £4500.

BEEP Doctors is a charity that provides emergency medical aid to patients in need where ambulances have trouble reaching them. This year, it was awarded the King's Award for Voluntary service and will celebrate its 30th birthday in 2024.

Tom said: "Christmas is a time for giving. I think it could be quite hard to be a BEEP doctor because they're all voluntary and they don't get paid and all their money comes from fundraising."

BEEP Chairman Dr Theo Weston MBE said: ‘We are delighted that Tom is taking on this challenge to both raise money for our charity and awareness of what BEEP does in the local community.

"It costs around £250,000 per year to operate the charity and in our 30th year, we aim to increase our rapid response ambulance cars to a fleet of 4 providing greater cover to the North of the County. We wish Tom the very best with his challenge."

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