Meet the Sunderland schoolboy who has raised hundreds for St Benedict’s Hospice in memory of his grandad

Oliver Davison, from Barnes, has raised £755 for St. Benedict’s Hospice during the coronavirus lockdown – all in memory of his Grandpa Tony, who was cared for by the hospice in his final days.

The youngster decided he would raise money by running 5k in five days, before extending it to seven days, after his auntie ran a Facebook fundraiser for her birthday.

His mum, Rhianna Davison, has told the Echo how Oliver had high ambitions before being shocked at the amount that has been raised so far.

She said: “We’re really surprised at how much he has managed to raise.

“Our family and friends had already donated to my sister’s fundraiser so it was nice that they have managed to donate to Oliver too.

“He said he wanted to raise £1million at first, before reducing it to the target of £350 which has now been doubled.”

Rhianna’s dad Tony passed away in 2015, when Oliver was just five, after battling with a brain tumour for 14 years.

In the final years of his life, 54-year-old Tony spent time in care at the hospice, during which the family were able to make precious memories.

Rhianna added: “My dad would sometimes go in for respite care to give my mam a break and he loved it.

“Towards the end of his life, when he was in a wheelchair, we would go as a family and Oliver has some really fond memories.

“He often speaks about doing the Easter egg hunt there or walking around the lake and feeding the ducks with his grandpa.

“Oliver hopes that the money will help families have the same experience that we did.”

The hospice has appealed for help during the lockdown after losing huge sums of funding caused by the pandemic.

Chairman Derek Moss added: “A donation will enable our staff to continue to provide expert and outstanding care to patients when they need it most.”

If you wish to donate to Oliver’s fundraiser, you can do so by clicking here.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you.

How to subscribe to the print edition:

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.