7-year-old Ollie raises funds for Gold Dust Appeal

A generous seven year old from Plymouth has raised hundreds of pounds for the Gold Dust Appeal, which is raising money for the refurbishment of the Children and Young People’s wards and corridors on level 12 of Derriford Hospital.

Ollie Willis, a pupil at Montpelier Primary School, presented the cheque for £850.24 to Anita Dykes, Matron for Paediatrics at Derriford Hospital on Friday 16 January 2015. He raised the money by selling his toys and organising a football tournament with his step-dad, Pete Bruce.

“After having a much-needed clear out of his pre-loved toys, Ollie decided that he wanted to sell them to other children who would give them a new home,” Pete explained. “However, he didn’t want to sell them to make money for himself, he wanted to give the money raised from the sale of the toys to help other boys and girls. His mum told him about the Gold Dust Appeal and it went from there.”

The family set up a JustGiving page for Ollie, including text donation, and he made a video to explain why he was doing it. Ollie’s toy sale raised £377.74.

Following the success of the toy sale, Ollie and Pete, wanted to keep the momentum going so organised a charity football tournament to raise further funds for the appeal.

"We're incredibly proud of Ollie, he's been so determined to raise money for other children and we just wanted to keep his fundraising efforts going, so we thought a football tournament would be a great way of doing it, whilst having fun at the same time," said Pete.

Pete organised a football tournament, called Goals for Gold Dust, with eight teams of six, who all paid an entry fee to play. The Everyone Active Team at the Plymouth Life Centre generously allowed the teams to use two of their courts for free so all funds raised went to the appeal. Image of Ollie and Evie-Mae with Anita

The three-hour tournament, which raised £472.50, was sponsored by local financial advisor, Tom Barwell who works at Harris Begley Financial Planning and also Jason Terrell from J M Terrell Contracts Ltd. Mitch’s Match Winners were crowned the winners.

“We were overwhelmed with the number of people who got involved and supported Ollie’s fundraising efforts for the Gold Dust Appeal,” added Pete. “We are especially proud of Ollie for showing such initiative at such a young age and wanting to help others and also by how much he has raised in such a short space of time.”

Plymouth Hospitals Charity hopes the Gold Dust Appeal will raise £75,000 with the aim of creating a friendly, inviting and welcoming environment where children can play, explore and have fun.