7-Year-Old Charlie Simpson Raises £100,000 For UNICEF In Haiti

by amyellensoden | January 25, 2010 at 11:20 am

564 views | 10 Recommendations | 0 comments

Charlie Simpson, a 7-year-old boy from Fulham London, has raised over £100,000 for Haiti relief work. The little boy was struck by the news of the Haiti earthquake and felt something needed to be done. Saddened by the images of destruction and suffering from Haiti, Charlie enlisted the help of his mother in obtaining a sponsorship form for a 5 mile bike ride around his local park.

Wanting to find a way to contribute, Charlie set out to ride his back around South Park for 5 miles to raise £500 for UNICEF. Instead, Charlie's efforts reached the web with his sponsorship page on JustGiving. People who heard about what Charlie was doing and found his page ended up donating over £60,000 to his cause in just one day with donations coming in from as far away as from Hong Kong and New Zealand.

A Unicef spokeswoman added that the one idea had snowballed to make ''a huge difference''. ''He's helping to provide water to hundreds of thousands of people in Haiti,'' she said.

''We're all overwhelmed with the response to Charlie's bike ride. We've never known anything like it. We've never had anyone raise £60,000 in one day for us before. Charlie himself is just a wonderful boy, kind and generous, and really shows the nation how easy it is to help.''

The money raised by Charlie and his supporters has gone directly to UNICEF and their relief efforts in Haiti. The long-term projects of providing sanitary living conditions, clean water, nutrition, education, and child protection will all be aided with his contribution.

On his JustGiving page, Charlie wrote: "I want to do a sponsored bike ride for Haiti because there was a big earthquake and loads of people have lost their lives. I want to make some money to buy food, water and tents for everyone in Haiti." The final figure that Charlie raises through his efforts will be matched by a monetary form of gift aid for the people in Haiti. As of today, Charlie's bike ride has raised £119,431.18

Charlie Simpson - JustGiving