Tobias Weller smashes £30k fundraising target live on This Morning

A nine-year-old boy with cerebral palsy and autism smashed his £30,000 fundraising target for NHS workers, live on This Morning.

Tobias Weller is following the work of Colonel Tom Moore – who managed to earn more than £33million in donations for healthcare staff.

Appearing on the ITV series via a live-link, the youngster opened up about his fundraising efforts, telling Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford he was attempting to walk a marathon on his street to help Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Paces School.

And he reached his target live on air, as the hosts donated £650 to his cause.

‘You said he was hoping to raise £30,000,’ Ruth told his mum – also named Ruth. ‘He was £650 off that when we came on air.

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‘We would like… This Morning would like to donate straight away that £650 to get him up to his £30,000. And I’m sure that that will continue to go up after everyone’s watched him on here this morning.

‘Tobias you’re an incredible young man, we absolutely salute you like we saluted Colonel Tom.’

Chatting about his efforts, he told the presenters: ‘I love it when I walk up and down my street every day, because my neighbours come to out to clap and cheer for me. 

‘Some of them even say, “We salute you Captain!” That’s hilarious.

‘I walk every day whatever the weather, although it’s often sunny, I’ve walked through rain, gale-force winds and even a snow flurry.’

Since his stint on the show, Tobias’ JustGiving page has seen a surge in donations, with more than £35,000 raised so far.

He recently revealed why he decided to walk a marathon as a fundraiser for NHS staff – explaining that he was encouraged by ‘awesome’ Colonel Tom’s efforts.

Tobias reached the halfway point last month, explaining at the end of April: ’I started doing 50 metres every day but now I do 750 metres. 

‘It’s a very long way to walk but I am finding it a bit easier every day. I love it when people are clapping and cheering. 

‘It motivates me to walk even further.’ 

His mum added: ‘When we were first on lockdown we knew that Tobias had to do physio every day so, in order to get in a routine, we started walking every day. 

‘And then people started coming out and clapping and cheering him. So we thought, why don’t we have a target and a marathon’s the gold standard?

‘It’s hard, particularly because we’re on a hill. You can’t get away from the fact that we live in Sheffield so we’re going to be on hills.’

We are not worthy.

This Morning continued on weekdays, at 10.30am, on ITV.

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