A seven-year-old boy from Amesbury has received a special message from Dean Smith, the manager of Aston Villa.

Owen Hammond, a pupil at Amesbury Primary School, raised more than £1,000 for the Trussell Trust by running one mile a day over the course of 27 days.

He has received a video message from the manager of Premier League side Aston Villa, the club he supports, congratulating him on his achievement.

The Year 2 pupil decided to take on a fundraising challenge during lockdown to raise money for a good cause.

After pitching the idea to his parents, Ian and Julie Hammond, Owen decided to complete a marathon by running one mile per day.

Ian, 43, said: “He just said to me that he wanted to do something to raise money for charity, he didn’t give a reason why so I said we’d have a think about it.

“Then he mentioned it again the next day so me and his mum had a chat and came up with the idea of a marathon and he was really excited by that.”

Salisbury Journal:

For 26 days, Owen ran in all weathers to reach his goal of raising £1,000 for the Trussell Trust.

To get his fellow school friends involved, he even ran for an extra day, on February 8, so that the school community could celebrate the end of the challenge with him.

“I thought he would only do it for a few days, I thought that he would get bored eventually but he didn’t, he just carried on,” Ian said.

“He’s quite fit and active and he likes to be out and about doing stuff.”

On February 8, which coincided with his seventh birthday, Owen was cheered on by his friends as he crossed the finish line at the entrance of Amesbury Primary School.

To congratulate him, school staff asked Aston Villa manager Dean Smith to record a video message for Owen.

“He was really shocked, and so was I to be honest,” added Ian.

“He was just taken aback a bit.”

With one fundraiser under his belt, Owen, who plays football with Durrington under 7s and rugby with Salisbury under 7s, is now looking forward to planning his second challenge which will be aid of the RSPCA.

His parents say they are “very proud” and would like to thank everyone for their support.

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