Harlie disc-overs generous reaction to Shropshire hospice appeal
A young hospice fundraiser is grateful for the support of people throughout Shropshire, after an appeal for DVDs attracted hundreds of donations.
Harlie McGowan, aged 10, has been collecting family-friendly DVDs to help children visiting the Hope House Hospice, which supported him at a difficult time after his mother died.
An appeal box was situated in the Shropshire Star’s Ketley office, and people also dropped films off at Harlie’s home in Telford. And this week they counted out 522 discs from people across the region.
Harlie and family will now take the DVDs to the charity’s headquarters in Morda near Oswestry, where they will be distributed to the various hospices.
“I never thought I would get this many, I was thinking I would get about 240 or something," said Harlie.
"We decided to do it because at the hospice they have to keep watching the same ones over and over so we thought of doing a DVD appeal.
“One of my friends from school gave me three of them. Some of them are brand new as well. It took us ages to count them all. I hope they really enjoy them.”
Harlie’s grandmother Doreen supported Harlie with his appeal. She said: “I was really surprised to see how many, but people are really generous for a good cause.
“People have been leaving them on our doorstep, and one lady gave me a bag full of them in the supermarket. I couldn’t believe that, it made me cry.
“We have five or six boxes full of them at home, filling up our dining room. I was counting them once and got up to about 400, then I lost count so had to start all over again!”
“We will take them over there when we get a chance and then they can hand them out to the different places. If we do get more we’ll take them down as well.
“Harlie is really grateful to all his family and friends for their kindness.”
Harlie, who is one of the youngest fundraisers for the hospice, said he doesn’t know what he will do next to support the charity but that he doesn’t intend to stop any time soon.
