Jack's art draws in £7000

The six-year-old boy who decided to raise £100 for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation by doing drawings in exchange for donations has raised more than £7000 in less than a fortnight.

Jack Henderson, from Prestonpans, set up his website www.jackdrawsanything.com last Monday.

As the Evening News reported last week, he hoped to raise a little money from family and friends for the hospital, which treats his 22-month-old brother, Noah, for the lung condition bronchiolitis.

But after news of his effort was circulated on social networking sites, he found himself making TV appearances and receiving hundreds of requests and donations from all over the world. He has now increased his target to 10,000.

Drawings completed by the youngster in response to requests include a banana on a skateboard, a rubber duck riding a bike shooting lasers and a dinosaur diving into a pool of jelly.

The Cockenzie Primary pupil has even been commissioned to draw logos for business cards and company websites.

His dad, Ed Henderson, said: "I was always confident it would be a success but we thought if it takes off a little bit we might get a few hundred pounds, but we've hit about 7500.

"Jack's doing no more drawing than he normally does, he's just focused to draw certain things. He's fine, he just thinks he's famous now and the whole world knows who he is."

Mr Henderson said the family would stop accepting requests within the next few days to give Jack a chance to fulfil his orders.

He said: "I've still not been through all the e-mails but my guess is that we've had somewhere between 400 and 500 requests, and he's drawn about 38.

"The important thing, even if we stop taking requests, is to keep getting donations and support."

Maureen Harrison, chief executive of the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, said: "It is quite difficult to find new ways to raise funds for charity, but Jack's idea is amazingly innovative. It's a wonderful concept and Jack's drawings are so cute.

"We would like to say a huge thank you to Jack, his brothers, Toby and Noah, and parents Ed and Rose for all their hard work in managing the sheer volume of requests for Jack's drawings, which have included requests from Australia and Africa, and their continued support in fundraising for the Sick Kids."