Boy, 11, raises over £130,000 by sleeping in a tent for nearly 300 days in memory of late neighbour 

Boy, 11, praised by This Morning viewers for raising over £130,000 by sleeping in a tent in back garden for nearly 300 days in memory of his late neighbour

  • Max Woosey, 11, from Devon, raising money by camping out in his back garden
  • Fundraising for North Devon Hospice who looked after late family friend Rick 
  • Started mission on March 29 last year and is aiming to sleep in tent for one year

This Morning viewers have praised an 11-year-old boy who has been camping in his back garden for nearly 300 days to raise money for charity. 

Max Woosey, 11, from Devon has raised more than £130,000 for the North Devon Hospice, who cared for his late neighbour Rick, which has been mising out on some vital fundraising due to pandemic. 

Rick had gifted Max the tent before he died and told him to ‘have an adventure’, and Max has been sleeping in his back garden since March 29, 2020 – originally aiming to camp out for one year. 

Viewers quickly took to Twitter to hail Max a ‘breath of fresh air’, with one saying many could learn ‘what being a decent human being is’ from the schoolboy. 

Max Woosey, 11, from Devon (pictured with mother Rachael) has raised over £130,000 for the North Devon Hospice by camping out in his back garden

The North Devon Hospice, who cared for his late neighbour Rick (pictured) before he died, and Rick had gifted Max the tent and told him to 'have an adventure'

The North Devon Hospice, who cared for his late neighbour Rick (pictured) before he died, and Rick had gifted Max the tent and told him to ‘have an adventure’ 

Speaking of his late neighbour, Max said: ‘Rick loved his camping outdoors. The only time you saw him inside was when he was cooking or watching the rugby. 

‘He gave me a tent before he died and said, “I want you to have an adventure in it” and I promised, “I will”.’ 

Chatting to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield alongside his mother Rachael, he explained that the hospice is missing out on vital funds due to the pandemic. 

He said: ‘The North Devon Hospice took care of him, since Covid they lost some of their fund raising. 

Viewers quickly took to Twitter to hail Max a 'breath of fresh air', with one saying many could learn 'what being a decent human being is' from the schoolboy

Viewers quickly took to Twitter to hail Max a ‘breath of fresh air’, with one saying many could learn ‘what being a decent human being is’ from the schoolboy

‘So I thought: “How can I keep my promise and help them and keep my promise, and it clicked for me?”.’ 

Max has ‘battled red ants and been chased around the garden by pheasants’ while staying in the tent, and admitted that the cold elements have been challenging over the past few months. 

‘There has been ice on the tent, thick ice,’ he said. ‘It’s starting to get quite muddy now, because it’s just freezing and pouring down with rain.’ 

When asked whether it would be odd having her son back indoors, Rachael said: ‘It will be. 

Chatting to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield(both pictured left), Max explained that the hospice is missing out on vital funds due to the pandemic

Chatting to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield(both pictured left), Max explained that the hospice is missing out on vital funds due to the pandemic

Max plans to stay in the tent for as long as possible, telling Holly and Phil: 'I¿m not stopping at a year now, i¿m going past a year'

Max plans to stay in the tent for as long as possible, telling Holly and Phil: ‘I’m not stopping at a year now, i’m going past a year’

‘I actually think he won’t like it, at the moment we can’t see how long he’s reading and I think there’s a lot of stealing of snacks going on.’ 

Max plans to stay in the tent for as long as possible, telling Holly and Phil: ‘I’m not stopping at a year now, I’m going past a year. As long as I have snacks in the tent and Beano I’m fine!’ 

Viewers quickly took to Twitter to praise Max, with one writing: ‘I think Max is great. Most 11-year-olds will be stuck indoors on a console. What a breath of fresh air he is.’ 

‘What an amazing young man Max is,’ wrote another. 

A third commented: ‘What an amazing young man, there’s so many people his age or older that could learn what being a decent human being is from him.’