Three-year-old Sutton boy's ‘pop tastic’ time raising cash for Children in Need

Joseph Evans, who is in nursery at St Andrews, at Skegby, decided he wanted to raise charity cash by popping balloons!

His ‘poptastic’ idea was inspired after watching a Peppa Pig cartoon which was on the theme of raising money.

Mum, Emma Evans, who is 30, and works as a community care officer for Nottingamshire county council, said: "Joseph just said randomly ‘Mummy, can we pop balloons to raise money for children and their families who need help?’ It was an amazing idea! He came up with it all by himself.

“So we turned it into a raffle idea, with numbers inside the balloons, and 216 popped balloons later and over 150 personalised videos sent out, he has now raised £440, for the Children in Need charity with more coming in!”

For Emma, who also has a 10-month-old daughter Rosie Faye, Joseph’s activities have helped ‘lift spirits’ during the Covid 19 situation.

Emma said: “We were in isolation with Covid for a while, and everyone has been fed up with the lockdowns so Jospeh’s ballon popping activities have made people smile, and we have had a lot of feedback after posting his videos. He had a lot of fun popping the balloons too!

“As parents, myself and his dad George are so proud. Joseph has been on the BBC and Children in Need, it has been a fantastic few weeks,” said Emma, who previously lived in Buxton, on Old Macclesfield Road. Joseph’s dad George, is an aerospace engineer in Derby.

Local businesses came together to support Joseph by donating prizes.

Emma added: “I am so thankful for people’s donations and support, especially during this pandemic, everyone is struggling one way or another and the generosity of our communities has amazed us.“Joseph’s videos of him popping balloons on social media, have really helped raise people’s spirits, I have had many messages from people thanking me, saying this little boy has sure brightened up their day!

“We count our blessings everyday to have such a wonderful kind and caring little boy! He is such a special little boy.”

To add to Joseph’s fundraising see his Just Giving page at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/emma-evans104.