Auction of promises raised £22,000 for Bledington youngster (From Cotswold Journal)
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Auction of promises raised £22,000 for Bledington youngster
5:13pm Wednesday 6th March 2013 in News By Freya Leng
John (pictured centre) will soon have a new specialised wheelchair
THE parents of a young boy who suffers with muscular dystrophy have smashed their £20,000 fundraising target to buy a specialised wheelchair in just one event.
Angela Dickson, aged 37, of Bledington, near Stow, and her husband Paul, 38, said they could not believe how much was raised on Friday at an auction of promises at the village primary school.
About £22,000 was raised at the event - three times more than the couple expected to raise - which will buy an all-terrain wheelchair for their son John, who was born with the condition.
The nine-year-old, a pupil at Bledington Primary School, struggles to walk and it is a challenge to keep up when he goes out to play with his friends.
Mrs Dickson said the school hall was packed with about 200 people bidding on 50 lots including a signed England cricket bat which sold for £1,700 and even a rubber duck which fetched £220.
“It went really well, better than we could ever imagine,” she said. “We are still counting the pennies and we’re still getting donations coming in. We still can’t get over it.”
