April 9, 2014 12.01 pm This story is over 119 months old

Lincoln boy on a mission to feed the poor

Help at hand: A five-year-old boy from Lincoln is on a mission to raise money for local food banks.
5-year-old Theo Hayes and his friend Ethan Waby from Lincoln collected donations for the Tressell Trust foodbank. Photo: Tami Hayes

Five-year-old Theo Hayes from Lincoln was saddened when he saw a television advert about food poverty, so he took to his bike to raise money for a local food bank.

Theo, who is a pupil at Fosseway Primary School, wasn’t satisfied with just raiding his cupboards and home, so he enlisted the help of friends and family to raise money for a giant food shop.

People and local businesses pledged to sponsor Theo as he completed an 8 mile bike ride for the cause on April 5.

He was joined by his friends Ethan Waby and Ollie Walling along with dad Chris.

(L-R) Ethan Waby, Theo Hayes and Ollie Walling took part in the sponsored bike ride for Lincoln food banks. Photo: Tami Hayes

(L-R) Ethan Waby, Theo Hayes and Ollie Walling took part in the sponsored bike ride for Lincoln food banks. Photo: Tami Hayes

So far, Theo has collected over £231 with a number of other pledges.

He plans to make a special trip to the Lidl supermarket to buy the food after donations have been collected.

Theo said: “I wanted to help poorer people so they can have food, I watched The One Show and a TV advert about hunger and it made me sad.

“It made me worried and I wanted to help the poor children and mummy asked the supermarkets to help me.

“The bike ride made me feel happy and excited because I was raising lots of money but I was also sad because I was tired.”

Theo’s mother, Tami Haynes, said: “Theo was asking lots of questions and was saying more needed to be done for people that rely on the food banks.

“I think it’s a massive feat for a five-year-old to act so selflessly. We are so proud of him.”