A 21-year-old volunteer has raised over £3,000 to help people in his community after running the London Marathon yesterday.

Joshua Wynne, of Dickens Rise, Chigwell raised £3,312.18 for the Redbridge Jewish Community Centre (RJCC) after he ran 26.2 miles in four hours on Sunday (April 24).

The medical recruiter, who works in Woodford Green, has been volunteering for the charity in Woodford Bridge Road, Clayhall for over eight years.

RJCC is part of Jewish Care, the largest social welfare organisation in the south east, which provides day care for children and adults, support for the elderly and educational programmes for young people.

Mr Wynne said: “I first started out with RJCC when I was in Year 8 or 9 at school and took part in one of their leadership programmes.

“Now I run one of those leadership programmes myself, it’s great to be able to share all those life skills I learned with the next generation.

“It’s all about giving something back to our community, which is why RJCC is such a fantastic cause.”

The 21-year-old said he was inspired to increase his involvement with the charity after he left school because of his grandparents’ volunteer work there.

He said: “Having seen all the amazing things RJCC does for people in our community and how my grandparents’ helped better people’s lives, I thought why not run the marathon for them?”

Mr Wynne admitted he was not a big runner before he started training.

He added: “I had only done 18 miles before the race, so I was a bit worried about what would happen beyond that, but the adrenaline kept me going.

“Having my friends, family and random members of the public shouting ‘go Josh!’ gave me such a buzz.

“I absolutely flew around the Docklands, the atmosphere was so electric there, and running over Tower Bridge and along the Embankment was fantastic as well.”

Mr Wynne was reunited with his cousin Adam Goldman and friend Liam Stein at the finish line, who also ran the race for Jewish Care.

He said: “I am surprised at how good I felt afterwards. My muscles are still a bit sore, but other than that I'm totally fine.

“I celebrated with a dinner at home and early night!”

RJCC youth and community officer Ashley Sinclair said: “We are all really proud of Josh, Adam and Liam.

“They even kept their community spirit when they were running, starting out and finishing the race together, so we would like to thank them for all their hard work and the money they’ve raised.”

To donate to the marathon fund, see the Virgin money giving website.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JoshuaWynne