Two-year-old who boosted Fratton Tesco fundraiser hands over cheque to Queen Alexandra Hospital

Two-year-old George McGowan from Kingston sold some of his old toys to family members, with help from mum Gemma Clark, and raised £30 to add to Fratton Tesco’s fund for Queen Alexandra Hospital.

Staff at the supermarket held a weekend fundraiser, with two colleagues singing in store, a raffle for two iPads and staff wearing bright colours after donating - with the total reaching £3,137.80.

Darren Ellis, store manager, said: ‘Covid-19 has had such an impact on all of us as a nation and the appreciation that everyone is showing for our incredible NHS workers has been remarkable, from the continuous Thursday night clapping to the wonderful donations of toiletries and sweet treats.

‘But we wanted to do a little bit more, so we held a weekend of fundraising, this helped boost morale not only in store but in our community, so many people were commenting on the wonderful atmosphere and it truly felt as though we are all in this together.

‘I have never felt more proud to be a part of such an incredible community.’

George’s mum Gemma approached the store to offer the £30 George raised towards the total, as well as a rainbow image he had drawn to display in the window.

Gemma said: ‘He’s a lovely little boy, he loves looking at everyone’s pictures in the windows.

‘We needed to have a bit of a clear-out and he had plenty of toys. Instead of buying toys with the money, we decided it would be better spent there.’

This touched the heart of staff including Tara Bellinger, community champion at the store.

She said: ‘George is a very kind and caring little boy who did a very selfless thing and so we asked his mum if she would like to bring him along when we handed the donation over to QA hospital.

‘Unfortunately we were unable to physically hand over the cheque due to social distancing but we were able to share George's story with the staff who accepted the donation and they were all just as overwhelmed.’

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