Young Ben gives gifts to Rainbows

A young fundraising entrepreneur has donated more than £700 worth of toys to our hospice.

Eight-year-old Ben Clark is no stranger to fundraising and coming up with clever ways to help others. His latest venture is to recycle discarded microfibre cloths which are used by engineers and mechanics at go-kart race meetings. After cleaning them up, he sells them back to teams.

Ben, of Peckleton, came up with the idea after spending time in Leicester Royal Infirmary with bad asthma. He felt the ward desperately needed new toys so set about raising funds to buy some.

His venture grew and Ben decided to support us because he was inspired by Lucy Rawlings. Lucy lost her fight to cancer at the hospice in November.

Mum Debbie said: “Rainbows became important to Ben. He was following Lucy for a couple of years and he wrote her a letter and sent her chocolates and a voucher. He was really upset when Lucy died and wanted to send gifts to the charity.”

So Ben took to buying gifts from our Amazon Wishlist and last week, he visited the hospice with his array of gifts. 

“Ben absolutely loved his visit and said it was the best day of his life,” said Debbie. “He was made to feel like a million dollars by everyone. There are more things Ben plans on buying for Rainbows. He has a heart of gold and nothing is past him.”

People can join Ben in supporting us by buying gifts from our Amazon Wishist. 

Gill Smitherman, Donor Development Manager at Rainbows, said: “What Ben has done for Rainbows is absolutely fantastic. He has been incredibly generous and his gifts will really make a difference to the children, young people and families who we care for. 

“Every year we’re always overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters who deliver so many presents for everyone at Rainbows. Our children and young people have many different complex conditions so we created the wishlist that will help them to create magical memories, no matter what their abilities.

“Ben really has embraced this list and we thank him from the bottom of our hearts.”

To view the wishlist, visit rainbows.co.uk/wishlist