A BUDDING young rugby player upset by what he saw on the news is taking on a charity challenge to help those in Ukraine.

Pennington C of E School pupil Ollie Johnston will be walking eight miles from Ulverston to Barrow this weekend to fundraise for children affected by the conflict in Ukraine.

The eight-year-old, who lives in Swarthmoor, felt compelled to do his bit after watching Newsround at school.

Mum, Meg Johnston, said she is ‘incredibly proud’ of her little superstar.

The 30-year-old said: “About two weeks ago, Ollie came home from school upset and quiet.

“We eventually got to the bottom of what it was – he had watched Newsround at school and found everything going on in Ukraine at the moment difficult to understand.

“It had upset him to see what was going on and he couldn’t understand why people could be so cruel - he felt completely helpless.

“He was asking lots of questions – he’s very inquisitive – and couldn’t understand why it was happening. Us adults don’t understand either.”

The Mail:

Alongside his best friend Billy, and other teammates from Ulverston Wolverines, Ollie will be walking six hours on Sunday from Ulverston Rugby Club to Barrow Raiders.

Ollie and Billy will be stopping in Dalton on route to play a match for Ulverston Wolverines under-eight’s team on route before carrying on their journey to Barrow.

“He wanted to do something to help,” Ms Johnston said.

“We thought of all sorts of things we could do to raise some money and decided on a sponsored walk.”

Ollie and his family launched a Just Giving page last week and have raised over a thousand pounds in cash and online donations in just a few days for UNICEF.

The Mail:

“Everyone has really got behind Ollie and told me how proud they are of him,” Ms Johnston said.

“He’s really excited to do it. I don’t think he quite realises how much he has raised.

“We never expected people to donate how much they have – it’s brilliant.

“People have donated from all over the county too, it really is amazing.

“I am so proud of Ollie, I always have been. He’s always been a kind and thoughtful boy, so I have always been incredibly proud of him.”

If you would like to make a donation, visit: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ollieswalk4ukraine