Kevin Bridges challenges public to double his £20,000 donation to charity

People have been urged to help double a £20,000 donation comedian Kevin Bridges made to a children’s hospice organisation in memory of a “wee pal”.

He donated the sum to Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS) as a tribute to Dylan Hairstains, a boy he met at Robin House near Balloch in 2012.

Bridges has not forgotten the boy, originally from Lockerbie, who died aged 16 in 2012 after suffering complications from cystic fibrosis.

The comedian surprised the charity with the spontaneous donation on Mother’s Day.

He said: “I went to visit him in the home, he had a PlayStation and we used to sit and play the computer and he came to a couple of my shows with his family and we kept in touch and had a laugh about football and sadly he passed away, and on Mother’s Day I thought it would be nice to do this.”

Bridges said he recognises many people will be in difficulties financially during the coronavirus outbreak but urged people to consider donating to charity if they can afford to.

He said: “A lot of good causes like CHAS are struggling for funding during all of this, with their regular fundraising events being either postponed or cancelled.

“I wanted to make this donation in memory of my wee pal Dylan Hairstains, who used to scud me at FIFA.”

CHAS said: “In these extremely challenging times, we are so grateful to Kevin for his commitment to helping other children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

“He has also laid down a challenge to see if those who are in a position to contribute to CHAS can help double his donation at this crucial moment in time, and we’d like to take him up on that challenge.

“At CHAS, we’re doing everything we can to reach as many children and families who need us, but there’s no escaping the fact that we need to work even harder to raise enough money to continue our vital work as our fundraising events, face to face fundraising activity and many of our usual community fundraising efforts have been put on hold for the foreseeable future, leading to a drastic drop in our income.

“Please join Kevin Bridges and help us reach £20,000 to make sure every child in Scotland dealing with a life-shortening condition receives the support they so desperately need.”

CHAS has set up a fundraising page at justgiving.com/campaign/KevinBridgesChallenge