Zoo cyclist raising thousands all for the love of Sam
A six-year-old boy from Harleston has seen his £100 fund-raising idea for Banham Zoo go into the thousands as well – as receiving a message of support from his favourite eagle.
Connor Root and his dad, James, 35, decided to ride 100 miles in June, to raise the money for the zoo, but even before a pedal was pushed it had reached four figures.
Kerry, Connor’s mum, said: “When lockdown started, we explained to him that we could not go out to places like the zoo and that people were raising money to help feed the animals.
“Connor wanted to do something to help Sam the Eagle, his favourite at Banham. so we put up our fundraising page up on May 28 and within two days it had already raised £1,000.”
The figure has not stopped there and is now at more than £5,000, with donations coming from as far away as Scotland and America.
Connor’s story also reached the zoo where falconer, Andy Holdsworth, sent a message of support from him and the eagle himself.
Mrs Root said: “Connor was over the moon, I have lost count how many times we have watched the video, it was just amazing.”
The family, who live in Nelson Close, have all been involved with the challenge, even three-year-old, Evie-May on the back of her mum’s bike, but Mrs Root said Connor’s dedication to the cause and the support they have had has just been incredible.
She said: “We worked out that it would take about three-and-a-half miles a day but Connor has just kept going and has already ridden 39.5 miles in the first five days.
“He even gets up at around 6am some mornings to go for the next ride, he is just loving it.
“For all the donations and messages so far, just a massive thank you to everybody. It just shows what having a zoo on their doorsteps means to people.”
To donate to James and Connor’s challenge, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/james-root3