A MAN with cerebral palsy and very limited mobility has set himself the challenge of a sponsored stand to raise money for the NHS.

Twenty-nine-year-old Reece Taylor is a full-time wheelchair user who has been standing with the aid of handrails for half an hour each day over the past two days.

By doing so he is aiming to raise money for the NHS as the service works hard to manage the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Explaining how he hit upon the idea, Reece said: “Basically two weeks ago I was getting a bit bored at home because of the lockdown and because I usually go to the gym quite a bit.

“So at first I wanted to keep myself active so I just thought to go into the bathroom and try standing with handrails.

“After about a week of doing this I decided why not do more?”

Reece, of Cherry Crescent, Rawtenstall, decided to set up an online fundraising page to encourage people to sponsor his standing in order to raise funds for the ongoing effort to help contain the spread of the virus and support those who have been effected.

Standing up from his wheelchair is a challenge for Reece, but he is determined to do all he can to help key workers.

He was partly inspired to do so by his mother who worked for the service as a clerk for 13 years and by the example of Captain Tom Moore.

Reece said: “It was the combination of that and seeing what Tom Moore had done as well as wanting to keep myself active.

“Seeing such a courageous man I thought why not see what I could do too.”

Reece had originally set himself a modest target of raising £100 but was amazed when donations far exceeded expectations, leaving him with a current total of £1,380.

He has also been filming his standing challenges and posting the videos on Facebook.

Reece said: “I didn’t expect it to snowball into a big thing, but I thought if money can be generated why not try?”

To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/reece-taylor.