A 12-year-old boy has raised over £245,000 to support children and families in Ukraine, after over 14,000 people entered a raffle to win the wooden bowl.
Donations tripled over the Easter weekend after celebrities, including JK Rowling, Stephen Fry, Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman and Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs, tweeted their support for the young woodwork prodigy.
Gabriel Clark, who lives in Kirkby Lonsdale with his dad Richard Clark and mum Teresa Clark, first went viral after a quarter of a million people responded to a plea from his dad for people to follow his son’s woodwork Instagram account to boost his following of just six.
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Other celebrities who have shown their support for the young star include YouTuber and author Joe Sugg, iconic singer Cher and Radio 1 DJs Zoe Ball and Gregg James.
Gabriel had originally planned to sell his wooden bowls to fund a new mountain bike, but after his Dad’s tweet led to hundreds of thousands of new followers, he decided to use his new-found Instagram fame for good, carving a beautiful wooden bowl etched with a blue and yellow ring (the colours of the Ukraine flag) to raise funds for Save the Children’s Ukraine appeal.
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Gabriel said: “I’m absolutely blown away by the level of support that my bowl and I have received. I originally hoped to raise £5,000 so this is just mad! I haven’t even told people at school yet!
“I really hope that everyone’s generosity can help children in Ukraine. What I’ve seen on the news is so sad, but I hope that the money can help Save the Children to provide more support to kids who’ve been impacted by the conflict with things like food, water and a safe place to sleep.”
Dad Richard, said: “This has just been an extraordinary story of hope, joy and kindness. I never imagined that my tweet would turn into this amazing thing – I just wanted to help get Gabriel a few more followers and somehow, it’s resulted in people donating almost £250,000 to help children in Ukraine, it’s just incredible! Children’s lives will be made better because of this and that’s no small thing.”
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The draw for Gabriel’s Bowl for Ukraine closed on Easter Sunday and the bowl will be sent to Renuka Chapman from London.
Renuka said: “I was so moved when I saw the original tweet from Gabriel’s dad that I just had to follow his Instagram account. When Gabriel then launched his Ukraine fundraiser I immediately wanted to donate and I encouraged all my family and friends to do the same."
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