Herd of Sheffield says thank you for seven-year-old's ele-fantastic fundraising

Olly Wiseman with his favourite elephant, 'I Follow a Different Herd'

Olly Wiseman, aged seven, was given special permission to have the morning off school to attend the event so that staff at Sheffield Children’s Hospital - who arranged the sculpture trail to raise money for new equipment - could say a personal thank you for Olly’s big donation.

The Aughton Academy pupil came up with the idea of getting sponsored to complete the city-wide trail of elephant sculptures when he met his first two Herd friends at Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre in the summer.

Olly said his legs got tired while completing the trail but the thought of helping the Children's Hospital kept him going

Olly gained more and more sponsors, taking photos of himself with each of the 58 fiberglass creatures.

He even went to work with his dad, a window-cleaner, to raise some extra cash towards his total.

Olly’s grand total of £512 will help fund a new multi-purpose Fluoroscopy System for the Children’s Hospital. The life-saving piece of equipment is used to obtain real-time moving X-rays.

Olly said: “The children are really poorly and they need loads of help so I decided to do it.

“My legs were a bit tired but I kept thinking ‘I’m doing it for someone else, it’s for the children’.”

Olly’s proud mum Nicole said her son has enjoyed the fundraising so much that he plans to raise money for one good cause a year from now on.

The only complaint her son had was that his VIP status meant he had had so many photographs taken of him and ‘it hurts to smile so much’.

Darren Pearce, Meadowhall Centre Director, said: “What I have seen from this project more than anything else is there’s a real sense of partnership and coming together.”