Haverhill Singers' fund-raiser wears shorts for one whole year to boost charity

A charity fund-raiser has been 'astonished' by the amount of money he has raised - by wearing shorts for 365 consecutive days.

David Arnold, 74, from Balsham, spent every single day in 2019 in shorts to raise money for Ataxia UK and having set a target of £1,000 if fast approaching the £5,000 mark.

He took on the challenge (as featured in the Echo last October) in memory of his niece Louisa Arnold, who died in October 2018 of a rare genetic condition called Friedrich's Ataxia.

The disease causes symptoms such as muscle weakness, loss of speech, vision and hearing impairment and heart problems and frequently leads to an early death.

David, who has two children and four grand-children and is a member of both Haverhill Singers and Balsham Singers, said he has been 'amazed' by the total he has raised.

"I'm astonished really because it's such a small charity and people have been very generous.

"Certainly it's an unusual sponsored event. Even the Ataxia UK have been overwhelmed I think by the idea and also the money raised, so it's been very good."

David finally got back into long trousers again just after midnight on New Year's Day, having taken a pair of them to a party he was at, and the change he said, 'seemed very strange'.

Despite the inevitable odd looks he got during the year, particularly when he turned up to formal functions, the reaction of people has been good once he explained why he was doing it.

"Once they know then obviously everybody is very relaxed and quite impressed I think as well, that there is this mad person wearing shorts at formal events."

David's fund-raising page - https://www.ataxia.org.uk/fundraisers/danesbury - will remain open until March for donations.