Tuk-tuk charity ride

Staff at Specsavers in Wisbech are supporting a pensioner on a 3000-mile tour of the UK on a tuk-tuk to raise funds for charity.

77-year-old Steve Gibbs is on a 21-day tour to fundraise for children’s charity Healing Little Hearts. His charity mission was inspired by his daughter, Helen, a nurse in Bristol who took part in a Healing Little Hearts project last year.

As a charity, Healing Little Hearts sends teams of surgeons, doctors and nurses to India, Africa and Malaysia to perform life-saving surgery on children born with heart defects.

Talking about the challenge, Mr Gibbs explained: “Towards the end of last year Helen travelled to Malaysia as part of a team from Healing Little Hearts to help with operations on children with heart defects. When she came back, she asked if I would fundraise for the charity so she and other teams can go on more trips.”

Stopping at the Specsavers branch on the first day of his 21-day journey, staff donated £50 to the cause.

Mr Gibbs, who has a pacemaker himself, highlighted: ”It costs £6000 to send a team on each visit, and I am hoping to raise enough to pay for two trips.”

All the money raised will go to Healing Little Hearts, which was founded by Leicester hospitals consultant, Dr Sanjiv Nichani. To make a donation, visit Mr Gibb’s JustGiving page.