What has two thumbs, one bowl and raised £250,000?
Gabriel Clark!
2022
In 2022, 13-year-old Gabriel from Cumbria raised over a quarter of a million for Ukrainian children, when thousands of people bid on his online raffle to win his handmade wooden bowl.
Gabriel shot to viral fame in April 2022 after his dad put out a plea on social media for people to follow his woodwork Instagram account, attracting hundreds of thousands of people and celebrities including Stephen Fry!
The new found fame spurred Gabriel on to do some good and raffled off his Bowl for Ukraine to raise funds for our Ukraine Emergency Appeal.
2023
Now, a year later, the young woodwork star visited a Ukrainian school in Warsaw funded by Save the Children, to learn more about where his fundraising is going.
The school supports over 450 6-17 year old children from Ukraine which allows the children to continue studying the Ukrainian curriculum with some added polish lessons.
Gabriel visited over Easter and was lucky enough to take part in some Ukrainian Easter traditions like painting wooden eggs as well as played games and discussing their hobbies and the things they had in common.
“I spoke to one ten-year-old boy who plays the drums, like I do, and he also does Taekwondo, which I love. It amazed me because it’s such an unusual sport. It just reminded me that these children are just like any other child, but they’ve been through so much. If there’s any way of helping them and other children who need it, then I think we all should.” - Gabriel.
One more bowl
Following his visit, Gabriel announced he would be carving a new bowl, called The Hope bowl, with the aim of raising funds for Save the Childrens Emergency Fund which supports children in crisis all around the world.
He said: “Being at the school in Poland and seeing how much the funds raised last year have helped the Ukrainian children there, I just knew I had to do another fundraiser."
The draw for Gabriel’s Hope Bowl will close on Friday 14th April. Enter now.
