Barney Thomas completes his fourth fundraising march to support the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

A 9-year-old boy has walked through the night across London to raise money for a children’s hospital that saved his life. Barney Thomas, from Bristol, and his father Darren Thomas, 36, along with his godfather Bradley Hackett, 36, completed a 12-hour “midnight march” from 6 pm on Friday evening until 6 am on Saturday morning, covering key landmarks in central London.

The trio began their journey from Paddington Station, walking past Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Tower Bridge, before catching the first train back home. Barney said the toughest part was dealing with sore feet, but he felt “joyous” and proud of his fundraising effort, which has raised over £1,700 so far for the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

This march was the fourth fundraising effort for the hospital, following a challenging start to Barney’s life. Born with two holes in his heart, Barney had surgery at 11 months old to repair the condition and has since dedicated himself to giving back through various charity events.

Reflecting on the march, Barney said, “I feel tired but proud that we’ve done it – I feel joyous. My feet hurt, and it was a little bit tiring, but it was OK.”

His father, Darren, said the event was emotionally overwhelming, particularly after seeing how close they were to meeting their £1,500 fundraising target. “When we got back to Bristol we had hit it, and I had a bit of a tear in my eye,” Darren said. “I was really elated by the whole thing, I felt chuffed.”

Both father and son suffered blisters during the march, but the sight of how much they had raised motivated them to keep going. Darren added, “It was so motivating to see how many people had donated. We didn’t expect to raise that much.”

To support Barney’s fundraising efforts, visit his JustGiving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/barneysmidnightmarch.