Charlotte Hinton, 10, from Loanhead, has skipped 1,000 times a day for ten days – 10,000 skips in total – to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society.
Charlotte, a member of 1st Loanhead Brownies, devised the challenge to earn her Charities Badge and because it gave her a focus during a period of isolation from school. She was inspired to raise funds for the National Deaf Children’s Society because her cousin Ellen was born deaf and her family has been receiving ongoing support from the charity.
She has smashed her fundraising target of £50, with £275 raised so far. All the funds raised go directly to the National Deaf Children’s Society, which supports the UK’s 50,000 deaf children and their families.
Charlotte lives in Loanhead with her parents, Karen, a teacher, and Colin, and her little brother Ross, 7.
Charlotte said: “I want to thank everyone for their donations. Some days were hard, especially skipping with hair down – not the best idea. Sometimes my legs were sore but I kept going.
“I really enjoyed skipping and was shocked at how much I raised. I even managed to do 1,000 skips in under ten minutes on my last day, which I really wanted to achieve.”
Karen added: “Charlotte was inspired by her PE teacher who had been teaching her class skipping. Charlotte immediately knew she wanted to skip to raise money. I knew this would give her a purpose and focus during isolation and was happy to support her.
“I’m so proud of Charlotte. She has the most caring heart and I know that her care and worries will one day change the world. She transformed a pretty rubbish time into something amazing – some adults could learn a lot from that.”
Elle Billinge, who supports fundraisers for the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “I want to say a huge thank you to Charlotte for taking on such an original challenge for us. It was a lovely thing to do, and we’re so grateful.
“The National Deaf Children’s Society is dedicated to supporting the UK’s 50,000 deaf children and their families. The efforts of energetic fundraisers like Charlotte will help us to keep on doing our vital work, now and into the future.”