Supporting Hugie & Freddie

In September 2020 Hughie (then aged 10), son of Keiron Higginson of LED-Electrical, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.

His best friend Freddie, then aged 9, wanted to help so set himself the challenge of running a Junior Park Run - 2km - every day for 50 days, finishing on Christmas Day. His initial target of £1000 was smashed within days and it wasn’t long before his challenge had captured the interest of the local media. Appearances on the BBC, Granada, Sky Sports and This Morning, finished off with a live broadcast by BBC Breakfast at 8am on Christmas Day morning which saw Hughie cheering Freddie on for his last 2km (before opening any presents!) catapulted their fundraising to another level. So far the boys have raised almost  £300K for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and thousands for other hospitals across the country.

Their fundraising efforts were recognised by BBC Radio Lancashire when they won a Make A Difference award in 2021, won the fundraising award at the Pride Of Manchester and then went on to be awarded Young Fundraisers at the Pride Of Britain Awards in November 2021. In October 2022 the boys were also awarded a British Citizens youth Award in recognition of their fundraising.

With Hughie feeling better, the boys wanted to take on another challenge that they could do together. Both Hughie and Freddie are huge football fans so they came up with the idea of running another 100km each by completing 1km around the pitch of every EFL and Premiership football ground - 92 in total. The other 8km they are hoping to complete at the National Stadiums and other notable sporting grounds.

They kicked off on Boxing Day 2021 at Turf Moor, home of Burnley FC and are now embarking on a national adventure ticking off every ground on the list. The money they raise at each ground will go directly to the local Children's Hospital where they hope the money raised will buy slushies* for every child receiving treatment for cancer.

To date the money raised for RMCH has been used to provide fresh fruit and music therapy to the children on Ward 86 (the oncology ward), the latest training robots to help train paediatric nurses and doctors, lifesaving equipment for the emergency department and refurbishment of the teen zone. They are now fundraising to upgrade the roof-top playground at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and paediatric oncology units across the country.

You can donate directly to your local hospital by visiting their donations page on their website - see below. 

 

To follow their story:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hughieandfreddie/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahronnan

Website: www.hughieandfreddie.com

 

*Why Slushies? One of the side effects of chemotherapy is severe mouth ulcers and sores making it often too painful for a child to eat or even drink. A slushie not only gives the child vital liquid, the coldness also helps to soothe the pain and it turns your tongue blue!!!

Sep 11 2023 | ANEW News