A Brightlingsea teenager has been praised by St Helena Hospice for growing sunflowers that have helped to raise money for the Colchester-based charity.
For the past five years Tom Phillips, 13, has boosted his pocket money by selling sunflowers to family and friends and donating some of the proceeds to charity. This year – with the help of sister Jessica, 8 – he decided that all the money should go to a good cause. The first the Hospice knew was when it started to receive lots of donations in Tom’s name.
Tom’s dad, Stuart, said: “Donating to St Helena Hospice was a natural choice for Tom as they took such good care of his grandfather, Colin Brown who sadly passed away in 2002. Tom never met his grandfather, but when we talk about him we always tell Tom what great care he and the family received during his time at the hospice and as a result it is close to Tom’s heart. We are very proud of him.”
A spokesperson for St Helena said: “Thank you Tom and Jessica for fundraising for St Helena Hospice, we’re sure your sunflowers have put smiles on lots of faces and the money you’ve raised will help us to support more families like yours.”
For more information about St Helena, go to https://www.sthelena.org.uk.
