Following news recently of a young Fulham lad cycling round his local park to raise money for the Haiti appeal, many of us were awestruck by his simple determination.
At just seven years old, Charlie Simpson pledged to cycle five miles around his local park, hoping to raise around £500 for the earthquake victims.
He raised in excess of £100,000 in gifts and donations - and the total is apparently still rising.
We should feel proud that a child so young can do so much, and it should put our own lives into perspective. We should also realise what we ourselves could achieve if we put our minds to it. Is there a local charity that could use your help?
Granted his age was obviously a hook for many contributors as the inevitable "Ah, bless" thought popped into everyone's heads.
Also, media coverage for such events is helped enormously nowadays by the instant reportage of the internet - reaching far more of us than similar news would have reached ten years ago. I personally heard about it via a Facebook posting last week, many others would have found out on Twitter and other social networking sites. And most of the donations have been made through Charlie's Just Giving page.
Charlie is quoted there in a beautifully honest mission statement:
"My name is Charlie Simpson, 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."
So for all those traditionalists who defame social networking as a pointless waste of finger-tip energy, think on to the benefits for fundraisers like Charlie Simpson.
I just hope he's not still riding round and round and round and round and round and round and round....
Kim
Thank you for reading thebestof Bromley Blog. If you have something to say about Bromley and what's going on for you, we'd love to hear from you. Come and blog with us: email bromley@thebestof.co.uk
TheBestOfBromley Blog - what's on and what's gone
Kim Frances is a freelance writer and photographer with The Little White Studio.
