A BIG-hearted Teignmouth schoolboy has walked to the top of the three highest mountains in England, Scotland and Wales within just five days for charity – and exceeded his own expectations.

Freddy Thompson, 11, from Bishopsteignton, won a Rotary Speaking Competition at Trinity Preparatory School, Teignmouth, talking about the work of WaterAid, a charity that provides clean safe water and sanitation to some of the poorest people across the world.

Freddy was so moved by the fact that more than 1,400 children die unnecessarily every day from diarrhoea and that it is preventable, that he decided to help.

So he chose the three peaks – Ben Nevis in Scotland, Sca Fell Pike in England and Snowdon in Wales – to raise £500 to support WaterAid’s work, but his efforts have far exceeded his expectations, seeing him raise almost £1,100 so far.

Freddy said: ‘I wanted to make a difference. It just isn’t right that we have so much when others have so little.

‘I was happy to walk for three days to raise some money, but imagine having to walk day-in, day-out, to get water rather than going to school!

‘Thank you to everyone who supported me with donations.’

Proud dad Mark Thompson, along with their chocolate Labrador, Lola, also did the walk.

Mr Thompson said: ‘The three peaks are a challenging walk for anyone. I found it hard at times, but whenever Freddy hit a difficult moment he would say “I’m doing this for people who don’t have water” and that would keep us both going.’

WaterAid was so impressed with Freddy’s efforts that it invited him to the London offices this week to meet their chief executive, find out more about their operation and present him with a certificate.

If anyone would like to contribute to Freddy’s fund for WaterAid, they can donate online through www.justgiving.com/ Mark-Thompson45.