Teacher John Lofthouse from Alton has completed three marathons, two ultra marathons and a triathlon challenge in just one month to raise £5,500 for children’s hospice Helen & Douglas House.

John chose to raise money for this charity in memory of his friends’ son Hemming Vramso who died aged nine from a brain tumour and was cared for by the children’s hospice.

He completed these six challenges between April 6 and May 5. They included the Brighton Marathon, the Paris Marathon, the Enigma Ultra Marathon 50K in Milton Keynes, the Radley Triathlon, the London Marathon and finally the Winchester Ultra Marathon 50K. John originally planned to raise £4,000 but has smashed his target.

John is the religion and philosophy teacher, and the assistant head of pupil well-being, at Churcher’s College in Petersfield, and is also an actor and opera singer.

He said: “I ran the London Marathon for the charity last year and really wanted to do it again, but I thought that it wouldn't be right to ask people to sponsor me two years running for doing the same thing, so I have challenged myself to do more this year.

“I decided to raise money for Helen & Douglas House in loving memory of Hemming Vramso, the son of two very dear friends - Haken and Katherine.

“Hemming was an absolutely wonderful little boy who tragically died of an aggressive brain tumour in October 2023 at the age of nine. I knew Hemming because he joined us every year when we sang opera on tour.

"For the London Marathon I dressed as Spider-Man, in honour of Hemming’s favourite superhero, which was brilliant because the crowd loves cheering for Spider-Man. But it was also challenging because it was so hot.

“Thank you so much to all friends and colleagues who have sponsored me so far. Your generosity is inspiring and has kept me going to the finish line.”

Julia Woodcock, from Helen & Douglas House, said: “I would like to say a massive thank you to John for taking on this amazing number of sporting challenges in just one month and raising so much money for us. The £5,500 John raised could fund an outreach specialist nurse for one month to offer a family support at home at the end of a child’s life.

“John was one of our 41 London Marathon runners who raised in total a massive £122,600, making them our biggest and most successful London Marathon team to date. Without amazing supporters like John raising money for us, we would simply not be here to help families with terminally ill children.”

Parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents are all part of the Helen & Douglas House family. At the toughest time of their lives, the hospice gives families time and space to enjoy the precious moments they have left with each other. In the midst of exhaustion and grief, it helps them to cope with their child’s final days.