Moved by the Injustices of the World, the Boy Who Raised Thousands in Less than a Week
A six year old who aimed to raise £60 to tackle poverty after watching a Tearfund film has seen his appeal snowball
Thanks to a combination of social media, celebrity endorsement, and a genuine heartfelt wish to make a difference, Joel Saunders has inspired more than £5,000 worth of funding in less than a week.
It began when he watched Tearfund's What Is Poverty? video, and resolved to do something about it.
He started collecting money in a 'Poor Box', and then, becoming frustrated at the lack of progress, decided to do a fundraising challenge - running two miles on June 22 with his mum.
At this point dad Martin, director of youth, children and family ministry at Premier Media Group, blogged about it, including quotes directly from Joel.
'I'm getting really sad about the people who are poor in the world,' Joel said. 'I don't understand who did this to them. I watched a video about people who are poor, and I want to help them.'
Donations began to flood into his fundraising page, and in hours almost £1,000 had been pledged. But the appeal really took off when actor James Corden, a friend of a friend of the Saunders' family, sent the link to his 2.4 million Twitter followers.
To date, just six days after the first blog post, Joel has raised more than £5,000 from 340 donors. 'I think people have responded to his heart,' said Martin.
'It's not about knowing lots of people on social networks. Most of the things I try to initiate on Twitter and Facebook die a death.
'This has come straight from a six year old who has realized the world is an unjust place and people have responded.'
Martin said the appeal was not hugely developed or politically correct, but that his heart was genuine. 'This really hasn't come from my wife and I. To be honest, we'd probably never have thought it was fair to weigh down a six year old with the troubles of the world - but he's teaching us that children have an amazing sense of justice.'
But more than the money raised, Martin hopes the appeal will inspire other children. Already he has been told about children starting their own fundraising after hearing of Joel's story, including at least one at Teddington Baptist Church after minister the Revd Richard Littledale mentioned it on Sunday.