County Durham RAF veteran walks 95 laps around a field for charity

94 year-old Cpl. Don Elsom wanted to finish before he turned 95 tomorrow

Author: Karen LiuPublished 13th Mar 2024

A County Durham RAF veteran has completed his challenge of walking 95 laps around a school field to raise money for charity.

Cpl. Donald Elsom, from Annfield Plain, completed the challenge earlier at Catchgate Primary School - the day before his birthday.

He has raised over £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support. His original target was £1,000.

Don said: "I feel exhilarated in a way that I've achieved what I set out for and it's really been incredible the support I've had here today. I must admit I felt like a celebrity when I saw all the people here and all the children."

His family walked his final two laps with him and his granddaughter, Jade, said: "It's obviously inspiring people and you know to me he's my granddad so he'll always inspire me but to see he's having an impact on others as well is just lovely.

"I'm really, really proud and everyone that came out to support him is really just overwhelming and all the money he's raised and everything for charity is just amazing."

You can watch what happened here:

Hear the latest news on Cool FM on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app. You can also follow us on X and TikTok, just search CoolFMNews