PREVIEW

An eight-year-old boy has been nicknamed Forrest Gump after starting a daily run to raise money for the homeless and inspiring dozens of others to join in.

Lewys Atwood aims to complete a mile a day for 26 days with a target of £3,500. He started the campaign after an encounter with a homeless man and his dog outside Morrisons in Swansea left him in tears.

“We were shopping and we saw someone on the floor, sitting down. He barely had any money in the cup, so we bought a meal deal. It made me feel sad, and it felt like he was invisible,” Lewys, from Glynneath, Wales, says.

His mum Rhian Atwood adds: “He begged me to buy this meal deal while we were in the shop, so I could see that it definitely triggered him emotionally. Then he gave the man the meal as we walked out, and he just broke down crying.

“It really, really upset Lewys - it broke his little heart. He cried most of the way home and he just wanted to think, what could we do? What can we do to help? So I had to explain to him, you know, about life really, and how these things happen. And that's when we thought of this challenge.”

Lewys’ mum and dad have joined him on his runs - but to their surprise the daily mile has drawn other people from the community.

“When we started off there were just a couple of us, and every day it's got bigger and bigger as more people have found out about it and they've been messaging asking if they can join us,” Rhian says.

“You know, we've had to work it around things that Lewys already does, different clubs, school, etc, but we managed it okay. And we've had a lot of support from local clubs and parents of children that are joining in.

“We've had family, Lewys' friends, his rugby team, his football team. We've had the Glynneath first rugby team, the ladies netball team, the Glynneath Gazelles. So we've had a big variety of people joining throughout.”

Lewys has been dubbed the Forrest Gump of Glynneath. In the 1994 film Tom Hanks as Forrest runs every day for more than three years, inspiring dozens of others to join him.

Lewys may have some way to go to match that but for the moment he’s going strong.

“He’s still keen and eager to go every day,” Rhian says. “His dad and I are so proud of everything he’s doing. He’s got the whole community involved.

“Running every day is not easy for a young boy of his age, with his little legs and everything else he's doing. But every day he's made that effort, and every day he's gone out and run that mile.”

Lewys is raising money for Matt’s Cafe in Swansea and Providing for the Homeless and Less Fortunate in Merthyr Tydfil. His Just Giving Page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rhian-harris-1?utm_term=XYBgMeybn