A 12-year-old boy has raised £1,000 for charity by selling his popular piglet ornaments online.
Rhys Downton, who attends North Hill House specialist school in Frome, has been creating colourful piglet ornaments since he was 10 years old, and sells them through his website to raise money for charities including Curly Tails Pig Sanctuary, HFT learning disabilities, Ceca’s Rescued Paws, Bath Cat and Dogs Home and the RSPCA.
Rhys, who is autistic, said he was inspired to do something nice for others after people from across the world responded to his request to send him rubber ducks after he couldn’t find any hidden ducks on a cruise, as per cruise ship tradition.
Rhys explained, “I wanted to do something nice for others after I went on a cruise and was told about the cruise tradition of adults hiding plastic ducks for children to find.
“I didn’t find any and was upset, so my mum posted on the cruise ship’s social media and I got sent ducks from all over the world (mainly the USA) from duck hiders! It made me want to do something kind for other people. My auntie Allison always made little FIMO (clay) animals, which gave me the idea to make some pigs with FIMO and donate them to charity.”
Rhys’ parents added, “Both of us are really proud that he has taken on this whole fundraising effort for charities. He is very motivated for a 12-year-old and knows exactly what he wants.
“He has driven Postbox Piglets from conception, coming up with the name, the designs, telling me exactly what to put on the website, all the way through to visiting some of the charities we donate to. He loves Curly Tails Pig Sanctuary in Milton Keynes, who he makes quite a few piggies for. It is a wonderful rescue where they sell the Postbox Piglets to help raise funds for the sanctuary.”
Rhys’ mother, Rachel, says she is particularly proud of Rhys’ work as he also has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and muscle hypotonia which affects his joints.
Rhys says he wants to be a biologist when he is older and enjoys swimming, reading, spending time with his three rescue cats and learning Japanese.
The piglets are available to purchase either from the shop link on their website https://www.postboxpiglets.co.uk/shop or at https: //postboxpiglets.sumup store.com/products
