Nine-year-old friends Ethan Ross from Totteridge and Joseph Morley from Friern, kept themselves busy during lockdown by setting themselves challenges to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and, to date, have raised over £1,000. They have been best friends since their mums met at a baby group, and to keep themselves busy and connected with each other during lockdown, every Sunday, they recorded themselves individually doing a one-hour activity, then edited the video for their very own YouTube channel.
Their activities ranged from doing various exercises to colouring in, reading and climbing stairs. The boys were keen to add an element of fundraising to their challenge so decided to set themselves a target to raise £1,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Ethan’s mum, Hannah says:
“We are incredibly proud of the boys’ amazing fundraising achievement for a charity which is very close to our hearts as we have far too many friends and family who’ve had to fight cancer.
“It’s an incredible amount to be raised by two young boys and even more special because they’ve done it all themselves. I also love the fact that they used their support for Macmillan to keep them occupied and help them through this long lockdown. They’ve been close friends since birth, but this fundraising has made them even closer.”
Joseph’s mum, Nicola adds:
“We are so proud of Joseph and Ethan for coming up with this idea to raise money and keep themselves busy during the lockdown. They have loved making the videos and seeing the donations build week after week and getting them closer to their target.
“They are both now back with their friends at school and pleased to be getting back to normal as lockdown eases but I’m sure they will continue to fundraise together as they think of other fun challenges and events over the summer. They’ve been bitten by the fundraising bug and are delighted by the support and positive reaction from everyone.”
Macmillan Fundraising Manager, Victoria Want supported the boys with their challenge and says:
“Ethan and Joseph are some of the youngest supporters to raise money for Macmillan during the pandemic and every week we were excited to see which activity they were going to do next. What a great example of how to turn the negative experience of lockdown into something challenging and worthwhile!
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on our income, at a time when people living with cancer need our support more than ever, so we are grateful to everyone who continues to raise money for Macmillan. If Ethan and Joseph have inspired you, please visit www.macmillan.org.uk/getinvolved for more information and ideas.”
If you would like to donate to Ethan & Joseph’s challenge please visit their Justgiving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/josephandethan where you can also find a link to their YouTube channel.
