A GROUP of boys who raised more than £10,000 for charity are now trying to raise an additional £5,000 for a child’s cancer ward.

Orlando Civardi, Wilfrid and Edmund Wilmott, and Oscar Rooney were inspired to raise money for Lymphoma Action after Oscar’s brother Fergus, 8, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

The four friends, who are aged between 10-12 and live in Brown Candover, raised the money by shaving their heads.

While they had originally planned to shave their heads in solidarity with Fergus, who would lose his hair due to chemotherapy, the boys later decided to raise money for the charity Lymphoma Action, after being inspired by the charity’s book “Tom has lymphoma”.

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While the boys fundraising goal was £400, they managed to raise £10,440 within 72 hours of setting up a fundraising page.

Claire Willmott, Wilfrid and Edmund’s mother, said that the boys were “overwhelmed” by the amount that they had managed to raise.

Claire continued: “They didn’t really comprehend it; to them it was just something they did.

“It was only really when friends and teachers were coming up and going ‘Guys, you’ve just raised £10,000’ that they thought they’d done quite well.

“It was really more about shaving their heads for Ferg, and I think they just wanted to show Ferg that he wasn’t going through it alone.”

Now the boys hope to raise a further £5,000 for the Piam Brown Ward, where Fergus is being treated.

The funds that Oscar, Wilfrid, Edmund and Oscar raise will go towards providing ward patients with games, toys and special treats such as pizza nights.

Claire said: “The only person that the boys know on the ward is Fergus, but they said that if they help some others as well, even though they will never meet them again, it will feel really good.”

At time of writing, the boys have raised £2,635 for the Piam Brown Ward.

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Claire said that she is “incredibly proud” of all the boys for raising the money.

She continued: “It’s a lovely feeling to be inspired by your children, and then to be inspired by everyone else as well.

“The generosity of people has been mind blowing and to be able to do something positive at such a horrible time is just really nice.”

To donate to the boy’s fundraiser, visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fergusrooney.

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