A few weeks ago a dad tweeted that his son, Gabriel, had come home from school upset. His love of woodwork wasn't deemed cool and he only had six Instagram followers, something, in teenage world, is a big deal.
So his father, a TV director, tweeted hoping to get his son a few more followers. What has followed is one of the most heart-warming and beautiful stories you'll read this year.
In a Twitter thread his dad explained how he tweeted and "got on cooking tea". But then his followers crept up to 6,000, then 33,000 and up and up and up. Orders for his wooden bowls and chopping boards grew to 20,000. Something, the family worked out, would take him 32 years to complete.
Read more : Mum flees to Ukraine clutching her son and cats to drive 1,800 to Wales
There was huge press interest and he decided that instead of carving the 20,000 bowls, he would carve one special one to raise money for people in Ukraine. He set a target of £5,000 and said that at Easter he'd pick a winner for his bowl.
Within 24 hours, the total was more than £50,000 and Gabriel gave up some of his school holidays to do interviews to try and raise money. Donations have come from all over the world, and currently they stand at £252,000.
In his brilliant thread, his dad Richard said: "A wee thread about a young boy and the tweet that got away. Feel free to RT. Three weeks ago my youngest, Gabriel 12, came home upset. His love of woodwork was not deemed cool, nor was only having 6 followers on his instagram.
"His Dad was upset too. It's hard watching your children battling with life. But what to do? Mum wasn't around, so Dad, the impulsive fool that he is, instead reached out to the lovely people on twitter. Maybe he could persuade some of them to follow his son?
"He was aiming for 60, the magic number in teen world when your Instagram page is apparently no longer deemed an embarrassment. So he posted the tweet and got on with cooking tea.
"But then something very odd happened... Followers started appearing, slowly at first, but then their 100's, and finally, as Dad and son looked on in astonishment, in their 1000's. By the time Gabriel went to bed he had over 6000 new followers! When he woke up the next morning he had over 33,000 and still it kept going. By the end of the weekend he had over 225,000 and was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of kindness and support.
"Not only that, he had over 20,000 orders for bowls and chopping boards, which, he calculated, would take him 32yrs to fulfil. And now the press were knocking at the door. It was a lot to take in for a wee lad of 12yrs. But Gabriel was certain of one thing - he wanted to share the kindness. So instead of carving 20,000 bowls, he would carve just one special one - his #BowlForUkraine.
"We set up a Just Giving page 10 days ago for Save the Children's Ukraine Appeal, with Gabriel setting a target of £5000. The fundraiser would stay live until Easter when one donor would be chosen at random to win his bowl. Within 24hrs of going live you wonderful, kind-hearted people once again blew our goal out of the water, donating over £50,000!!! The press got even more excited so Gabriel gave up a chunk of his holiday to run around doing interviews in the hope of raising even more.
"And so here we are. Together we have now raised over £83,000, with donations coming in from all over the world, and, with just 48hrs remaining, our little story is coming to a close. But how it ends is up to you. It's your story. Certainly we could all pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. Save the Children are already enormously grateful for the very real difference this money will make. But what if there was another ending?
"What if we threw caution to the wind and let go of our cynicism and really went for it? What if we blew this silly tale of a small boy and his bowl out of the water with a last swing shot around the moon? We're all so tired of covid and war and division. What if we came together in one big, generous, soppy, silly last hurrah and we RT'd the shit out of this and all chipped in to give Save the Children £100,000? Isn't that the ending we should go for?
"So it's up to you lovely people as to whether lightning strikes a 3rd time. Either way a heartfelt thanks. You have already changed so many lives
"And if you do want to follow a little lad making bowls, and other things from wood, feel free to follow on clarkie_woodwork".
