Billy Baxter – a Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) apprenticeships manager who referees professional football matches throughout Scotland in his spare time – decided to put his May furlough leave to good use by running 262 miles in aid of NHS Charities Together.

He said: “Inspired by some of the great things others are achieving right now in spite of the horrors of coronavirus, I decided to set myself a challenge to try raise some money for the NHS. I have set myself a deadline of the end of May to complete all my marathons.

“I have a reasonable fitness level as a part-time referee – but ten marathons is undoubtedly going to be a challenge! I’ve completed four so far – this warm weather is definitely helping.

“I have been incredibly touched and humbled by the generous donations which have been rolling in to my Just Giving page. My aim was to raise £500, but already the total is well over £1,000. It would be fantastic just to raise as much as possible in order to help our incredibly brave doctors, nurses and hospital staff to continue to deliver their outstanding care.”

Billy has been spurred on by the admiration he feels towards his daughter, Katie who is a trainee nurse, and his sister, Pamela and her battle with COVID-19 – she is only now recovering from the virus.

Billy’s daughter Megan has been supporting her Dad on social media, having uploaded the first ‘vlog’ detailing his heroic venture to YouTube. She will post there regularly throughout his challenge.

Billy is running as part of the NHS 2020 “Do What You Can” virtual challenge, which he will record on his GPS watch during his one exercise session per day during lockdown.

Donations to Billy’s ten marathons in May challenge can be made here.

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