Reuben Clark has one simple goal – to help as many people as possible through his charity venture.
At just 12-years-old he has created and launched his own raffle competition website with 100% of the profits being donated to charity.
Wrecker Raffles, inspired by his Muay Thai name Reuben the Wrecker, has gained more than 3,000 followers on Facebook since launching on Halloween.
From restaurant vouchers and cash, to jewellery and a festive holiday, he has already been able to raffle off an impressive list of prizes.
And, the £2,000 of profits made from the first competitions have already been donated to charities chosen by the prize winners.
“It’s all about helping others,” he said. “I’ll donate every single penny to people who need it. I want to help as many people as I can.”
The start of Wrecker Raffles in Aberdeen
Reuben was inspired to set up Wrecker Raffles after his best friend’s dad was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND).
He took part in a fundraiser with his football team Kincorth Emirates Youth to help adapt the family’s home and decided he wanted to do more to support them.
“He asked to do something more and thought of raffles,” his mum Kelly Clark explained.
“We thought it would just be a small tombola but so many people donated prizes. They were very kind and we were able to make up huge hampers.
“Reuben’s raffle raised about £1,500 while the whole fundraiser raised £10,000 for the family.”
After witnessing this success, Reuben decided he wanted to do a kind gesture especially for his best friend and raffled off his own quad bike to raise money for an electric scooter.
Supporting charities in the north-east and beyond
Since then, the Bridge of Don Academy pupil has dedicated most of his time to raffling off more prizes to raise money for charities, including Friends of Orchard Brae, Friends of the Neuro Ward and the Sue Ryder Neurological Care Centre.
He has also donated more of his own items with his much-loved pit bike being raffled off earlier this month for a stair lift for Lauryn Bowers, an eight-year-old girl from Newmachar who has a severe form of drug-resistant epilepsy.
All of his fundraising efforts have been recognised by the community and even one of his local MSPs who put forward a parliamentary motion to commend his work.
As he is yet to hit his teenage years, Reuben’s parents, Kelly and Gary Clark, have stepped in to offer a lot of help, including setting up the Facebook page which the youngster goes live on to announce each winner.
“It’s a lot of work,” his mum Kelly said. “I don’t think we realised how much it would all be.
“But, Reuben is happy as long as he is helping people. He’s a really caring kid.”
Focus on helping others
As raffle competition websites have grown in popularity in recent years, Reuben knew he wanted his addition to purely focus on helping others.
To help kick start Wrecker Raffles and bring him a step closer to achieving his goal, three local businesses, Access All Areas Scaffolding, Titan Tools and Kingswells Boxing Club bought £200 worth of tickets each.
The family expected those entering to be local to Aberdeen but have been surprised by how far news of the new website has spread with winners in the central belt and across England allowing him to help even more people.
And, Reuben himself has been overwhelmed by the generosity of one supporter in particular when a couple of his competitions failed to sell out.
After he shared his disappointment on a live stream, the 12-year-old received an encouraging message from Martin Booth who went on to donate £1,000 so Reuben can make food hampers for families this Christmas.
“The support is so appreciated,” Kelly added. “And, it shows how local independent companies and people can really make a difference when we come together.”
Conversation