Wow. Speechless. Look at what you all went and did! That's £130,000 raised in 36hrs. Stunning. Hope wins, kindness rules the day and woodwork is most definitely cool! Can't wait to see Gabriel's face when he wakes! 1/3
At 6pm today (GMT) we'll close the raffle and randomly choose the winner of Gabriel's #BowlForUkraine. The Just Giving page will stay open to donations a little longer to give #savethechidren as much as we can. 2/3
So that thank you, kind twitter people, for all you have done. Your big-hearted generosity has shone a light in these dark times and has changed young lives - not least Gabriel's.
A wonderful and Happy Easter to you all. 🙏🐣❤️ justgiving.com/fundraising/bo… 3/3
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And so we come to the end of our little tale of the boy, his bowl and the tweet that jumped the fence.
The #BowlForUkraine is off on new adventures, journeying South, but remaining in this fair land. 1/7
But what an extraordinary tale it has been - a 'twitter-tale' of hope and joy and kindness and resolve. A tale of big hearts, huge generosity and the strange power we hold at our fingertips. 2/7
Save The Children pass on their immense thanks and gratitude for all that you have done. Lives, children's lives, will be made immeasurably better because of you, and, in some cases, saved. That is no small thing. 🙏 3/7
A wee thread about a young boy and the tweet that got away. Feel free to RT.
Three weeks ago my youngest, Gabriel 12, came home upset. His love of woodwork was not deemed cool, nor was only having 6 followers on his instagram. 1/15
His Dad was upset too. It's hard watching your children battling with life. But what to do? Mum wasn't around, so Dad, the impulsive fool that he is, instead reached out to the lovely people on twitter. Maybe he could persuade some of them to follow his son? 2/15
He was aiming for 60, the magic number in teen world when your instagram page is apparently no longer deemed an embarrassment.
So he posted the tweet and got on with cooking tea. 3/15
instagram - clarkie_woodwork
A wee thread. Please RT
10 days ago my son Gabriel 12yrs came home despondent. His passion for woodwork was not cool and neither was only having 6 followers on instagram.
instagram: clarkie_woodwork 1/8
But then something remarkable happened. I put a call out on twitter, in the hope of snagging him maybe 60 followers, and within 24hrs he had over 220,000!!! @ZoeTheBall was giving him a shout out on R2 and he had 20,000 commissions for bowls and chopping boards! 2/8
We've had MSM banging on the door all week, he's done interviews for the Sun, Indi and the Times and he's even appearing on Newsround today!! 3/8
Today's the Day! Gabriel's #bowlforukraine has gone live! After the tsunami of #twitterlove that he received last weekend his Instagram account clarkie_woodwork went from 6 followers to 227,000! He's had a week of interviews and there's even an article in today's Times! 1/5
Woodwork is officially cool! But he wanted to share the love and do something for kids that really need our help. The war in Ukraine has been worrying him so he's hatched a plan. He's carved a special bowl and we've set up a JustGiving page - justgiving.com/fundraising/bo… 2/5
We all know times are tough, but if you can manage a contribution it will once again show that social media can be a force for good. And you never know - the #bowlforukraine might be yours! A priceless, iconic artefact! (or perhaps just a nicely carved bowl) 3/5
So I've now heard Gabriel's had a shout out from Zoe Ball on Radio 2! Crazy. His story seems to have really struck a chord, which is lovely. We could all do with a little sunshine given the state of the world. But since things have gone so public, a couple of thoughts: 1/6
The phrase 'bullying' is bouncing around and I think we need to be careful. I deliberately didn't use that word in my original tweet, nor do I think it is accurate. It's very easy for us all to demean the 'other', as a way of reinforcing who we are. 2/6
Just 5mins on here will confirm that! Inevitably kids take their cues from us so it's hardly surprising that they might do the same, especially amongst teenagers still trying to figure out who they are. Yes it's shitty but we need to be supporting ALL kids and helping them. 3/6
Update: So as many of you know my youngest, Gabriel, ended last week a little despondent with only 6 followers on his woodwork Instagram. But then twitter worked it’s magic… 1/4 #clarkie_woodwork
Swept up in a wave of twitter affection and support he now ends the weekend with 220k followers! It’s all gone a little nuts but we once again wanted to say a big thank you for all your kindness. You’re all great soppy heroes. 2/4 #clarkie_woodwork
Anyway Gabriel has spent the day carving his #bowlforukraine which he is hoping to raffle to raise as much ££ as possible for kids over there. I’ll keep you posted but Gabriel will give you the details himself on his Instagram #clarkie_woodwork. 3/4