A 73 year old man from Livingston has gone the extra mile raising over £33,000 for charity with plans to continue fundraising.

Over the last three years, John Thompson, a tenant at Bield’s Craigengar Park retirement housing development, has taken part in a series of events including a 24 hour dart marathon, sponsored walks and football matches to help collect the grand sum of £33,500 for charities including Save The Children, Heart and Stroke Scotland, Prostate Cancer UK and Poppy Scotland.

Adding to his list of fundraising efforts, the retired sheriff officer recently completed a 15 mile walk in less than six hours to raise over £2500, bringing his total up to this incredible amount.

John, who has lived at Craigengar Park for four years, said: “I am ecstatic that I have been able raise this amount of money for charities close to my heart.

“I have always enjoyed taking part in various charitable activities and have done so for a number of different organisations, including the Erskine Hospital, the Army & Air Force and The Royal British Legion.

“I love to help people, especially those in the local area and so I am always keen to raise funds for the likes of local schools because to me, education is important.

“I can’t actually believe how much money I have managed to collect over the last three years and I am delighted it has benefitted a number of different causes.”

Although the grandfather of two has been an avid fundraiser his whole life, his focus intensified when his eldest grandson was born 15 weeks premature. From then he has been actively raising money for children’s charities in addition to other causes.

However John has no plans to stop yet and is already organising his next charity venture, a 35 mile cycle from Glasgow to Livingston.

John is also heavily involved in arranging social events and activities at Craigengar Park and recently he organised two Christmas nights for tenants, one to Saltire for a Christmas meal out and another to see the pantomime Aladdin.

Events and activities such as these run alongside Bield’s ‘Free to Be’ philosophy, which lets people make their own choices about how they live their lives while being there to support them when they need it.