East Lothian kids bounce height of Everest on pogo stick to raise money for NHS

Leo and Ivy are bouncing the height of Mount Everest. | Other 3rd Party

An East Lothian brother and sister are bouncing the height of Mount Everest to raise money for the NHS.

Leo, 10, and Ivy, 8, Ingham, from Gullane, are aiming to complete 80,436 bounces in five weeks, which they have calculated equates to the height of Mount Everest at 8,848m.

They have raised £2,000 via an online fundraiser for NHS Charities Together.

Ivy, 8. | Other 3rd Party

The pair decided to take on the challenge three weeks ago after receiving a pogo stick as a birthday present from grandparents during lockdown.

The pogo stick has now worn out, but dad James Ingham managed to source a replacement via click and collect.

After surpassing the height of Ben Nevis (12,227 bounces), Mount Fuji (34,327 bounces) and Mont Blanc (42,727 bounces), they have now reached 50,000 bounces, or the equivalent of the height of Kilimanjaro.

On Thursday they reached 5,380m, or the height of Everest Base camp.

Leo, 10 | Other 3rd Party

Mr Ingham helped them to measure the height of the average bounce, 11cm, and calculate how many bounces it would take to reach the height of each summit.

He inputs their bounce count into a spreadsheet each day.

This can range from 2,000 to 5,000 between the two children.

The longest individual bounce achievement has so far been 3,000 from Leo.

He can manage around 10-15 minutes in a single stretch each day, while Ivy prefers to do short bursts of bounces throughout the day.

“Leo and Ivy came up with the idea themselves, back when they could only go out for exercise once a day during lockdown and were trying to come up with ways for them to exercise,” said Mr Ingham.

“They hadn’t really done it before, just at friends’ houses, and they went from not really being able to do it at all to being quite good.”

Mr Ingham said the children were inspired by Captain Tom Moore, who raised £33 million for the NHS by walking laps of his garden before his 100th birthday.

Mr Ingham added: “I’m really proud of them for doing it and staying motivated. It’s wonderful that they’ve been raising this money and finding ways to get some fresh air and exercise.”