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‘Tent Boy’ Max raises £680,000 for hospice by sleeping in under canvas for 600 nights
A hospice in Devon, southwest England, has received nearly £680,000 ($900k) from the efforts of 12-year-old Max Woosey, who has slept out in a tent for 600 consecutive nights in fundraising memory of a neighbour.
Tent boy Max Woosey raises ‘insane’ £680,000 for hospice
A hospice has received nearly £680,000 from the efforts of 12-year-old Max Woosey, who has slept out in a tent for 599 nights. Monday, 22 November was Max’s 600th night sleeping outside, which he completed in the garden of his home in Braunton, Devon. North Devon Hospice said the money equated to almost 20 nurses working for 12 months. Max’s father, Mark, told the BBC the family was "blown away" by the amount raised. The £567,000 raised on his fundraising page topped up with £112,000 Gift Aid tax, has been "insane", said North Devon Hospice.
![Max was inspired to raise money for the hospice by the care that it gave to neighbour Rick Abbott. The 74-year-old gave Max a tent and told him to](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/php6BntWN.jpeg)
Max’s fundraising equates to almost 20 nurses for the whole year
Max started camping out when he was 10 in March 2020 as the pandemic took hold in the UK. At the same time North Devon Hospice was facing a £1m drop in funding because of the lockdown, said the hospice’s communications officer Leo Cooper.
"I cannot over-emphasise how important his fundraising has been," he said. "At lockdown we were looking at the prospect of losing £1m, that adds up to a whole lot of care that we cannot provide and it was needed, especially during the lockdown. Max’s fundraising equates to almost 20 nurses for the whole year, so that gives you an idea of the scale."
Max was inspired to raise money for the hospice by the care that it gave to neighbour Rick Abbott. The 74-year-old gave Max a tent and told him to "promise me you’ll have an adventure in here", before dying from cancer.
Max’s father Mark told the BBC: "As a family we have been blown away that he has been able to help the hospice. The work that they do is amazing."
Max’s fundraising was marked at the Pride of Britain awards when he won the Spirit of Adventure award, and Mr Woosey said it had been "a joy" to see his son mature and grow with the experience of his fundraising.
Source: BBC
![The 12-year-old, from Braunton, has camped out at a variety of locations, ranging from his back garden to London Zoo and 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s residence.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpOV2vcI.jpeg)
![It was the 580th consecutive night that Max had slept under the stars to raise funds for the local hospice that cared for a dying family friend - and he was on his way to the glittering, star-studded Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards at Grosvenor House in London - the biggest awards show of its kind on British TV. The Braunton schoolboy became the national winner of the 2021 Pride of Britain Spirit of Adventure award.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpn9vnGC.jpeg)
![Max meets fellow adventurer Bear Grylls at the award ceremony.](https://www.brightvibes.com/wp-content/uploads/legacy/phpbGMZZy.jpeg)