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GABRIEL Clark met Defence Minister Ben Wallace and the Ukraine Ambassador to receive a Points of Light award for the work he did raising money for Ukraine.
The Points of Light award is given to people in the UK who the Prime Minister wishes to recognise for their service to a community.
Then 12-year-old Gabriel raised £250,000 to support children and families in Ukraine after 14,000 people entered a raffle to win his wooden bowl.
In a post, his father Richard Clark said: “All you lovely Twitter people that supported my wee lad, Gabriel, raising £250,000 last year, you might like to know he’s just received the PM’s Points of Light Award from Ben Wallace, the Secretary of Defence and the Ukraine Ambassador.”
Celebrities such as JK Rowling, Stephen Fry, Parks and Recreation star Nick Offerman and Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs, tweeted their support for him in April 2020. Other celebrities who showed their support for him included YouTuber and author Joe Sugg, Believe singer Cher and DJs Zoe Ball and Gregg James.
Gabriel lives in Kirkby Lonsdale with his father Richard and mother Teresa Clark. He had six followers on his Instagram, to which he posted examples of his woodwork on the page.
His father put out an appeal to his followers to go to his son’s Instagram page, and a quarter of a million people responded to it. Gabriel originally planned to sell his bowls to buy a new mountain bike, but he decided to instead raise money for Save the Children’s Ukraine fund.
READ MORE: Kirkby Lonsdale boy raised £245,000 for Ukraine with help from JK Rowling and Stephen Fry
Gabriel said: “I’m absolutely blown away by the level of support that my bowl and I have received. I originally hoped to raise £5,000 so this is just mad! I haven’t even told people at school yet!
“I really hope that everyone’s generosity can help children in Ukraine. What I’ve seen on the news is so sad, but I hope that the money can help Save the Children to provide more support to kids who’ve been impacted by the conflict with things like food, water and a safe place to sleep.”
Since February 2022, Save the Children claims that it has supported 281,882 people, including 149,594 children with protection services, cash, mental health support, nutrition, and supporting children who crossed the border into Poland.
