Boy raises nearly £500,000 for local hospice by sleeping in garden for entire year

‘Max started out with the intention of raising a few pounds for our local hospice,’ says mother

(Woosey Famiy / SWNS)

An 11-year-old boy has raised almost £500,000 for his local hospice by sleeping in a tent in his garden for an entire year.

Max Woosey decided to launch the initiative in memory of his friend and neighbour, Rick Abbot, who died in 2019 at the age of 74.

Before his death, Mr Abbot had given Max a tent and instructed him to “have an adventure” with it.

In light of this, Max decided to raise money for the North Devon Hospice, which is where Mr Abbot was cared for shortly before he died.

Now, after having slept in the tent for an entire year, Max has raised £473,484, surpassing his initial target of £100,000.

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“Max started out with the intention of raising a few pounds for our local Hospice,” says his mother, Rachael Woosey.

“But to mark a year in his tent he decided he’d like to raise awareness of children’s mental health during lockdown.

“He knows what it’s like to be isolated from friends, not to be able to play team sports and that sort of thing, so he’s doing this for all those children who have found lockdown, indeed the whole Covid crisis, so tough.”

Commenting on the success of his fundraising, Max added that he couldn’t believe his campaign caught the attention of Bear Grylls and Jonny Wilkinson, both of whom publicly endorsed the initiative.

“I couldn’t believe it. I watch all Bear Grylls stuff on TV and I love rugby,” he said.

“I‘ve got a few books about Jonny Wilkinson and his autobiography in my tent, which I read when I’m not reading the Beano.

“It was epic that they both supported me, saying, ‘carry on kid, you can do it!’”

Max slept in the tent without fail every single night - even over Christmas and when storms raged on in the evenings.

You can donate to Max’s fundraiser here.