Joshua, 11, aiming to break record for camping out

Joshua smiling and wearing  blue t-shirt outside his tent
Joshua’s ‘camping for care’ fundraising campaign was inspired by Max Woosey, whose record he is determined to beat [ Kate Bradbrook/BBC]

A boy who has camped outside for a year has said he will spend another two years under canvas - so he can become a record breaker.

Joshua, 11, has been in a tent on the patio of his family home in Milton Keynes through storms, wind and rain.

So far, he has raised more than £2,500 for the city's Willen Hospice, where his grandparents were cared for.

Joshua said he is determined to beat the three-year camping out record set by Max Woosey, who became known as 'The Boy in the Tent'.

Joshua told BBC Look East: "It makes me happy to know I am supporting a good cause.

"Sometimes it can be stormy, hot, or windy which is difficult because it batters the tent.

"When we went on holiday to Ibiza, I still stayed in a tent that my aunt bought me."

Emily and Joshua sitting next to each other on a sofa, smiling at the camera
Emily, Joshua's mum, backs her son to break the three-year camping out record [ Kate Bradbrook/BBC]

His mum, Emily, said she was incredibly proud and it was "hard to remember life before the tent".

"He is stubborn, much like my dad, so he will definitely do it [the three years], and he will have just turned into a teenager by the time he finishes.

"The cold wasn't too bad because I just bundled him up, but Storm Isha was scary," she said.

"I slept in the tent with him during that night because I was worried.

"It was scary - all the creaking of fences and noise, but he was fast asleep and didn't even realise there was a storm."

He decided to raise money for the hospice because his grandmother was cared for there when Joshua was two years old, and his grandfather, Peter, died there last month.

Joshua's grandparents Peter and Mary Lovegrove on their wedding day
Joshua's grandparents Peter and Mary Lovegrove, who died from cancer, were cared for at Willen Hospice [Family Handout]

So far, during his marathon stint under canvas, Joshua's main concern has been Christmas, and where Father Christmas was going to leave his presents.

He need not have worried. The hospice invited him to their grotto as a special guest, so he could collect his presents directly from Santa.

An inflatable mattress and sleeping bag inside Joshua's tent
The inside of Joshua's tent - he says extreme weather has not made camping out easy [ Kate Bradbrook/BBC]

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