Young writer sets out on big adventure in world of fiction
A BOOK-OBSESSED young writer has been raising hundreds of pounds for charity in memory of his older brother after putting pen to paper to compose a story about a monkey-faced bat.
Paddy Newton, aged six and from Crosspool in Sheffield is selling copies of his short story,
in aid of The Children’s Hospital Charity in the city, a cause championed by his family since older brother Benjamin passed away in 2009 aged just 20 days.
Paddy originally wrote the piece for BBC Radio 2’s story competition.
In the story, protagonist Sam, 70 – named after his grandad and younger brother – sets out on a grand adventure to find the Fijian monkey-faced bat. Featuring hand-drawn illustrations and maps, the story follows Sam and his young sidekick James on their journey.
Paddy hoped to raise £50 through selling copies of his story for a minimum donation of £1 for each of the original 50 copies that were printed, but incredibly, more than £1,800 has been raised so far through online donations.
Paddy’s father Dan says the family are incredibly proud of what he has achieved.
“He is a real bookworm. He reads for at least an hour and a half every night, and he is particularly interested in reading about other countries and travel.”
Some of Paddy’s favourite stories include the series by Alastair Humphries, and
by David Walliams, and with those as inspiration he set out writing the story over a few weeks.
“We are so proud of what he has come up with” adds Dan.
“He spent a while batting about a few ideas, and when he found one he liked he just went for it.
“I have sent a copy to both Alastair Humphries and David Walliams, which I hope they enjoy!”
Paddy is not the only inspirational fundraiser in the family. Dan, along with wife Kerry and their other surviving son Samuel, have to date raised more than £17,000 in memory of their little boy Benjamin.
The youngster died as a baby after contracting pneumonia in February 2009.
As part of Kerry and Dan’s fundraising efforts, they have taken part in several charity runs and have the Round Sheffield Run coming up later this month where they will tackle a ‘multi-stage’ running event covering 24km around the city.
Caitlin Hallatt, community fundraiser at The Children’s Hospital Charity, says: “We love Patrick’s story – it is a great mix of adventure and geography, with a bit of Yorkshire dialect thrown in!
“His support for our charity is really heartwarming.
“We always love to see young children giving something back to our hospital, especially when there is such a personal connection. Thank you Paddy!”
The money raised will go towards the work of the charity, which funds four key areas at Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
It supports the provision of specialist medical equipment and new facilities, making improvements to the hospital environment and £250,000 worth of research each year into the prevention and cure of childhood illnesses.
The charity has been running its Make It Better appeal since 2012 to raise vital funds that will provide “world class facilities” at the hospital, which is one of only four specialist children’s hospitals in the UK and provides emergency care for more than 50,000 children a year.
To find out how to get a copy of Paddy’s story, or to make a donation in support of it, visit https://www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ adventuretofindthemonkeyfacedbat.