Paisley Daily Express

Buddies chip in to help sick youngster

- CALAM PENGILLY

Buddies turned up in their droves to take advantage of an incredible offer from a conscienti­ous chippy who put on a special deal to raise funds for a young boy’s life-saving cancer treatment.

Andy’s Golden Fry offered customers a £2 supper deal on Tuesday – with queues of happy customers lining Causeyside Street to show their support for the family business’ charitable offering.

Hungry Buddies contribute­d £4,262 to the fundraiser for four-yearold Calum Rae from Troon, South Ayrshire, who has high-risk neuroblast­oma – a rare but aggressive cancer, which has a fiveyear survival rate of about 50 per cent.

Calum’s parents are trying to raise £250,000 to send him to America for a drug trial that could prolong his life.

Andy Spiers from Andy’s Golden Fry told the Express he’s heard about Calum’s plight from a friend – who was also running a fundraiser – and decided he’d do what he could.

Andy said: “We’ve done a few similar fundraiser­s like this in the past and I’d heard about Calum and decided that we’d do it again, and it was a great success.”

From noon, customers could head to the chippy for the deal which included a vast array of suppers. Every penny spent on the deal went to a JustGiving page for Calum’s treatment.

“We had a lot of kind donations from customers as well,” added Andy.

They were all out of food by 9pm, with Andy having to turn customers away by that point. More than 1.2 tonnes of potatoes were dished out across the nine hours.

Andy said: “A massive thank you to everyone for coming along and supporting this great cause.

“We would also like to thank our staff who worked extremely hard and donated some of their own money.

“A special thank you to our son Mikey who’s only 17 but worked all day and donated half of his wages; also my mum Yvonne who’s 73 but still working hard and worked all day for free; also MTT Poker for raising funds and handing them into the shop. We hope this money goes a long way in helping young Calum Rae get the treatment he deserves and wish him a speedy recovery.”

Andy says that donation buckets will remain in store for any customers wishing to help raise more funds for young Calum.

A massive thank you to everyone for coming along and supporting this great cause

 ?? ?? Queuing to help out
Buddies lined Causeyside Street to pick up the charity suppers
Queuing to help out Buddies lined Causeyside Street to pick up the charity suppers
 ?? ?? Anyone for chips?
Andy Speirs and his son Mikey went through more than 1.2 tonnes of potatoes on the night
Anyone for chips? Andy Speirs and his son Mikey went through more than 1.2 tonnes of potatoes on the night
 ?? ?? Cancer battle Four-year-old Calum Rae
Cancer battle Four-year-old Calum Rae

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