Our Young Ambassador, Oakley MacDiarmid, shocked his family when he announced how he wanted to fundraise for KidsOut this Christmas.
Oakley MacDiarmid, age 9, from Hailsham, who is one of our Young Ambassadors, told his parents that he wanted to raise money to buy new toys for children who would be spending their Christmas in women’s refuges.
Inspired by his elder brother who has been fundraising for children’s charities for years, Oakley approached his teacher at Plumpton Primary School in Lewes and asked if the school would hold a fun dress-down day with children getting sponsored for coming to school in silly clothes. The event, which Oakley called’ Dress Wacky Day, was a huge success, raising nearly £2000 for KidsOut, but what surprised his parents was his choice of costume and his want to shave the centre of his hair off to look like an elderly man.
His father Daniel MadDiarmid said, “Oakley is conscious that not all parents can afford fancy dress costumes which is why he named the event, ‘Dress Wacky Day’. When Oakley asked his mother and I if he could have his head shaved on the top so he looked like an old man as he thought he would get more sponsorship, how could we say no?.”
Oakley’s mother, Becky, said, “We are so proud of Oakley. Since becoming an ambassador for KidsOut and learning how little the children in women’s refuge have after fleeing domestic abuse, he has become passionate about trying to help them. He hopes that other schools will be inspired by what he has done and choose to hold their own Wacky Dress Day.”
The money raised by Oakley and the three children in his school who raised the most in sponsorship, joined Oakley’s parents on a giant shopping spree for children in Crawley.
CEO of the children’s charity, KidsOut, Sara Williams, said, “Oakley really is a little star. To think this was all his idea at the age of 9 is quite incredible. As a charity we deliver a box of toys to children living in over 700 refuges in the UK so that they have something to open on Christmas Day. Without the toys many of them would sadly go without. Oakley’s efforts are truly inspiring. The toys bought thanks to the fundraising event at Plumpton School, will bring smiles to the faces of some of the county’s most vulnerable children.”