Boy’s own adventure – one year in a tent
FOR most boys, a night camping in the garden is perhaps a one-off rite of passage, preferably on a warm summer night.
But Braden Collins has now spent the best part of a year sleeping in a tent at his family’s home.
He volunteered to spend a night camping in the garden last May as the house was full following his mother’s birthday party.
Braden then decided he’d like to spend a year camping out and despite the often harsh weather at his home on the banks of St Mary’s Loch, Selkirkshire, he will reach his goal this weekend.
The ten-year-old even packed his tent for family holidays to visit relatives in England and camped out in their back gardens – accompanied by his dog Maisie.
This Saturday he will mark his achievement with a gathering at his home, at which he will raise cash for Diabetes UK, which his father Paul suffers from.
The youngster said: ‘I have slept outside every night through snow, gales and storms.
‘One time, my tent blew down and I thought it was 7.30am so I went inside and started doing my homework. Then I realised it was only 3.30am.
‘When I was camping at my uncle and auntie’s house in Southampton, my uncle fell on my tent. Luckily I wasn’t in it but mum and dad had to buy me a new tent.’
Braden’s mother Claire, 44, said the Yarrow Primary School pupil had developed a routine. She said: ‘Every bedtime, he goes out to his tent with his head torch, his hot water bottle, his toy dog Alan and his real dog Maisie, who sleeps out with him.
‘In the morning he comes in for his breakfast and gets ready for school.
‘He seems to take it all in his stride and has never once said he didn’t want to camp out, even during the cold nights of winter.’