Alfie’s raising cash as he picks up the litter
A NINE-YEAR-OLD has raised more than £1,500 for the NHS – by helping keep the streets of his Valleys hometown clean.
Alfie Rhys Herbert smashed his expectations to raise £1,550 for the health service after Tonyrefail rallied around in support of his litter-picking campaign.
He was inspired to buy a wheelbarrow, with his pocket money, to help tidy his local area after noticing littering had got worse since the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
“He could see the area was getting really littered when we were in lockdown,” said his mum, Karen White.
“He bought a wheelbarrow out of his pocket money and started litter picking.”
Alfie was keen to raise money for the NHS, and his grandmother suggested that he start fundraising with his litterpicking.
So Karen set up a fundraising page for him to do just that, but neither he nor his mum could predict the reaction he would get with his campaign.
“I wasn’t expecting to get much of a response, I thought he’d get about £50, but he ended up getting £1,550!” said Karen.
“Alfie wasn’t expecting it, he was quite taken aback. But he was really proud of himself as well, even though he didn’t like to take the recognition.”
On an average litter-picking session, Alife might pick up three bags of rubbish in a space of just 500 yards.
Not wanting all of that rubbish to go to waste at a landfill site, Alfie recycles as much of it as he possibly can.
“Alfie’s thinking of his future, and making sure that he recycles,” his mum added.
Alfie and his mum are now urging people to follow in his example, and help keep the local area tidy.
The campaign has even attracted the attention of the Rhondda Tunnel Society.
“He is the sweetest, most good natured child I have ever met,” said the society’s chair Stephen Mackey.
He was so impressed by Alfie’s work he delivered a certificate on behalf of the society, which read: “Alfie, you are an inspiration to us all.
“Long may you feel the same about your community whilst others feel they have the right to litter.”
Karen said: “The certificate was lovely. The words on that... we were all touched. We were in tears reading it.”
Alfie and the Rhondda Tunnel Society are now working together on launching a local campaign to encourage people to keep their local area tidy.
NHS Charities Together said: “We would love to give a shoutout to Alfie from South Wales who has raised a fantastic £1,550 for our appeal by completing a sponsored litter picking challenge around his local community! A huge thank you to Alfie for all his hard work for our #NHSHeroes!”