A personal trainer put off his Christmas dinner to run 15 miles and raise funds for a Hornchurch charity that aims to fight loneliness.

Tim Nokes, a personal trainer from Bournemouth raised £345 by running 15 miles on December 25, 2017 for the charity WaveLength, based in Hornchurch’s High Street.

He said: “I find Christmas a very hard time of year. I spend a lot of time on my own. This year I wanted to use that feeling to change my situation and embrace being on my own and turn it into a positive to help people far less fortunate than I am.

“I have always been into fitness and have used it to treat my own mental health problems.

“I decided on the idea of running on Christmas Day and raising money for a worthwhile cause. Putting off my Christmas dinner for a few hours seemed like the least I could do.”

WaveLength provides televisions, radios and tablets to people who can’t afford them and suffer from loneliness. This could be because of age, illness, disability or from circumstances which make it hard for them to leave the house and meet new people.

“As this was about fighting my own loneliness, I decided it would be great to find a charity that worked against loneliness and its devastating effects,” said the personal trainer.

“I found WaveLength. I instantly loved what they stood for, connecting people through technology.

“This was something I continue to use in my own life, social media is a great tool for connecting with people all over the world and it has certainly helped me form new friendships and support groups.”

Tim Leech, CEO of WaveLength added: “We’d like to extend a huge thank you to Tim Nokes for running 15 miles for WaveLength on Christmas Day.

“We know that Christmas can be a challenging time for people, so it’s fantastic to see Tim using his experiences to take positive action.

“Tim’s donations will allow WaveLength to continue giving technology to people who are lonely across the UK.”

To support Tim Nokes visit his justgiving page.