A boy from Stowmarket has completed a half a million steps challenge to raise money for the victims of the conflict in Ukraine.

Seven-year-old Archie Morley has raised over £1,300 for charity after he reached half a million steps in April.

The Stowmarket resident decided to take on the challenge after seeing the situation in Ukraine unfold. His mother, Katie, said: “He always watches the news and wanted to help people in Ukraine.

East Anglian Daily Times: Archie completed the challenge on April 25, five days early, and clocked up 569,087 steps in April.Archie completed the challenge on April 25, five days early, and clocked up 569,087 steps in April. (Image: Archant)

“He loves his Fitbit which he got for Christmas, so we thought we’d put the two together and do a stepathon. Me and my husband sat there one evening, trying to work out how many steps he should do in a month to gain sponsorship.

“We worked out that 15,000 a day would get to nearly half a million so we thought he can do that."

With the challenge set, Archie began to find ways to get his steps in, even clocking up 31,693 steps on one of the days.

“We were taking long walks to school; he has swimming on a Monday so he was walking to the leisure centre. We walked to Needham Market and back one day.

East Anglian Daily Times: Seven-year-old Archie decided to take on the challenge after watching the Ukraine conflict unfold on the news.Seven-year-old Archie decided to take on the challenge after watching the Ukraine conflict unfold on the news. (Image: Archant)

“We’ve been away with the caravan so he did loads of steps around Yarmouth, we’ve been going out for walks as a family.

“He always wanted to be above 16,000 for the day, one day on holiday we didn’t hit it so he walked around the caravan site.

“My grandad unfortunately passed away while we’ve been doing it, so on walks he’s been discussing his feelings, which is something he doesn't normally do, so it’s been nice for that."

On April 25, five days early, Archie hit his target while visiting Framlingham Castle, and eventually reached 569,087 steps for the month.

Katie said: “We’re so proud to call him our son. We never thought he’d raise that much, I set the target at £250!

“He seems more cheerful, one of the main reasons for doing it was because he spent too much time indoors playing Lego!

“I’ve made him carry on walking! We go to and from school all the time now! We’re so proud of him."

A link to Archie's JustGiving page can be found here.

East Anglian Daily Times: Archie has raised over £1,300 for victims of the Ukraine conflict.Archie has raised over £1,300 for victims of the Ukraine conflict. (Image: Archant)