The seven-year-old had set out to raise u00a3500 (Rs 37,000) for Unicef's Haiti appeal

Boy raises Rs 37 lakh for Haiti in one day

The seven-year-old had set out to raise u00a3500 (Rs 37,000) for Unicef's Haiti appeal

No kidding: Charlie Simpson

Charlie Simpson was so upset by the devastation wrought by the earthquake that he told his mother he wanted to do anything he could to help. He set out to raise u00a3500 for Unicef's Haiti appeal by riding his bike five miles around his local park, but his efforts inspired hundreds of people online who donated a total of more than u00a350,000 in just one day.

Charlie said, "I just think it was quite sad when I saw the pictures on the TV."

He asked his mother Leonora to help him create a sponsorship form and added, "We sent it out on to the web and it just went everywhere."

Charlie's mother said, "He was really upset when he saw the pictures on TV and it was great to see him get motivated behind something as important as this and do something about it."

Asked how he first got the idea after seeing the images from Haiti, she said, "He actually burst into tears. He just sat on my lap, then we had a chat about the things he could do, and how he could go about it. He decided to do the cycle ride and he made me do a sponsorship form for him and that was it. It suddenly took off."

She added, "He felt strongly about this and thought that something had to be done. But what started off as a little cycle round the park with his dad has turned into something a lot bigger and we can't believe it. I am extremely proud of Charlie. He's raised a phenomenal amount of money so we couldn't ask for anything more."

All the donations from Charlie's JustGiving website will go to Unicef, which is leading emergency relief clusters on water, sanitation, education and nutrition and supporting child protection.

Michael Newsome, the charity's Haiti Appeal director, said, "Charlie's done this all by himself. It's always heartwarming when any child starts to respond."

A Unicef spokeswoman added, "We're all overwhelmed. We've never had anyone raise u00a350,000 in one day for us before."

Charlie's efforts came as celebrities in the US took part in the Hope for Haiti Now telethon. Stars including Julia Roberts, George Clooney and Bruce Springsteen manned the phones to raise a total of u00a335 million (Rs 263 crore) for the devastated country.

Up to 2 lakh people died when the 7.0 quake hit on January 12.

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