An 11-year-old Wormit boy has been inspired by the courage of his brother to raise around £5000 for a children’s cancer charity more than 30 times his original target.
Finn McGinley has been receiving treatment at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh and at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee since being diagnosed with leukaemia last month. His plight encouraged brother Felix Mallinder to, quite literally, get on his bike to raise funds for TCCL, the charity which supports children with cancer and leukaemia and their families.
“I really wanted to help in some way and me and my friend Craig (Reid) thought a charity cycle would be a fun way to raise money,” Felix said. “We really like going out on our bikes and thought raising money for TCCL would be good because I knew they had already built a play area at Ninewells and that they are there to help families like mine.”
Team Felix soon expanded with the addition of another four school friends Josh Ingram, Ronan McEwan, Jacob Peter and Stuart Fearn and the six set off on Saturday to complete a 12-mile cycle ride from Wormit Primary School, across the Tay to the Bridgeview Restaurant and back.
Felix thought he was being ambitious by setting a fund-raising target of £150 but that was quickly blown out of the water and he has had to revise it upwards several times.
The story of Felix’s efforts for his brother, who he has named ‘the Mighty Finn’ has spread by word of mouth and online, and has also caught the interest of the cycling community. By Saturday evening the total amount raised on and offline stood at £4575, with donations still coming in.
“The donations kept going up and up,” he said. “I can’t believe how much has been raised in 10 days.
“It’s totally amazing how much everyone has given us and we still have loads to add that was raised by Craig’s dad on the oil rigs. I feel so happy about it and want to say thank you to everyone.”
TCCL chairman John Walker met up with the group when they stopped at the Bridgeview.
“A nicer bunch of lads you would be hard pressed to find,” he said. “Their effort for us was quite remarkable and it was a pleasure and a privilege to meet them and thank them in person for their support of TCCL.”You can still donate by visiting www.charitygiving.co.uk/themightyfinnPhoto courtesy of Eileen Towns.