2020 may have been a tough year, but for one boy, it has come to a great end after an Andover dentist has raised hundreds of pounds for him after running the Clarendon marathon.

James Mackenzie, who works at New Street Dental Surgery, garnered £571.23 in donations for Toby Pearce, a boy with severe epilepsy for whom Andover raised £14,544 for a specialist wheelchair.

James’ funds will go towards providing accessories for the chair, such as a cover and rain hood.

Speaking about his fundraising run, he told the Advertiser: “Running’s my thing and I’m happy to help raise money for any good cause.”

“It was a particularly tough marathon. There was a staggered start because of lockdown, so it lacked atmosphere and adrenalin in that sense. As well as that, it was particularly wet.”

James narrowly missed his target run time of four hours to complete the run, but is pleased with the achievement.

He said: “It was a last minute thing, but we raised a good figure, mainly thanks to staff and patients donating. I’m proud to have raised a big sum of money for Toby.”

Toby’s mother Gemma paid tribute to James and the surgery, saying they were “all wonderful.”

She said: “Thank you so very much for helping someone you didn’t know. I can’t begin to tell you how much the money you’ve raised has helped us! Toby now has his new wheelchair and while it has been frustrating not being able to use it as much as we’d like under current circumstances, it has already made such a difference to Toby’s life.

“You are all wonderful, amazing people and we will forever remember your generosity.”

Councillor Iris Andersen, who walked 390 laps of her local cricket pitch as part of the campaign to raise funds, was present as the ceremonial check was presented. The ceremony had been delayed due to the second national lockdown.

She said: “The amount of money we’ve raised in such a short time is absolutely amazing. Thank you to everyone who donated.”