A charitable Bonhill six-year-old boy has raised more than £500 for Cancer Research UK by doing keepy-ups.
Aiden Yuill was shown the Bobby Moore Keepy Uppy Challenge in aid of Cancer Research UK by his mum Jan several weeks ago whilst looking for a football team for her son to join.
The boy baller was enthralled when he saw he could help people by just playing football and has been hooked to the challenge ever since – raising £510 so far.
Proud mum Jan Yuill, 41, said: “He does not know the full nitty gritty understanding of what he’s helping. All he cares about is that he’s helping so many people.
“He is aware of illnesses because of when my mum was not well, and because Cancer Research UK has always been a charity close to our family’s heart.
“I told him it was for a charity, and his eyes lit up when I told him he could raise pennies to help people by doing keepy-ups. As soon as you mention football he wants to do it.
“I started the target at £80 because it was his first fundraiser, and any money raised would help someone.
“But, the amount of money he has raised so far has blown me away. It has been amazing how the support has been.
“He keeps coming home, and he’s excited to do the challenge. Even when we went on a trip to Glasgow, we took a balloon with us so he could continue to do it. He is very enthusiastic about it.
“Every time a donation comes through, he always says, ‘wow, look at all those pennies’.
“His dad and I are immensely proud of him.”
The Bobby Moore fund reached out to Jan and Aiden and offered them some words of encouragement and appreciation for what the St Ronan’s pupil is doing.
They said: “Wow, we absolutely love this! He truly is an inspiration, thank you so much for raising an amazing amount for our charity, and only halfway there! I’m sure you are very proud of him.”
The Dumbarton Riverside footballer, however, has started to put a bit of pressure on himself, and it took his mum, Jan, to remind him to keep having fun whilst doing the challenge.
Jan said: “He reminds us that he’s to do his keepy-ups, that’s how dedicated he is.
“However, he started to put too much pressure on himself when he wasn’t doing more than the last day, and he was saying, ‘I’m silly. I’m not going to raise any more money’.
“But we reminded him that wasn’t what it was about, and yesterday he did 238 within 10 minutes. This morning he told me he was going to get 250 today.”
To donate to Aiden’s keepy-uppy challenge, please click here.
