Dexter puts his best foot forward to raise money for 'heroes'... and footy

An eight-year-old boy from Leeds has walked the length of a marathon in his own army costume to raise money for the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal.

- by Jennifer Cartwright

Dexter walking on Ilkley Moor in his army costume, and (inset) with family dog Corporal Freddie who has been his walking companion

Dexter Walker from Yeadon challenged himself to walk 26.2 miles across various locations from Harewood to Northumberland to support two causes close to his heart: the Poppy Appeal and his Ugs football team.

The idea began when Dexter saw other people run marathons for charity on CBBC's Newsround.

Inspired, Dexter decided to walk a marathon with support from his mum, dad, grandparents and dog, fittingly named Corporal Freddie.

Dexter said: “We decided to walk a marathon as [Corporal Freddie] can’t walk very far. My mum and dad said I should do it over a month because it would be hard for an eight-year-old to do a marathon in one go.”