British boy slept for months in garden tent to raise money for hospice

FILE PHOTO: Max Woosey, 10, who has spent 200 nights sleeping in a tent to remember his late neighbours, is seen in this undated handout photo in Braunton, Britain. Courtesy Rachael Woosey/Handout via REUTERS

A British boy who began sleeping in a tent in his garden back in March to raise money in memory of his neighbours, was celebrating on Wednesday after his charity camp-out amassed more than 40,000 pounds ($52,000).

Days after Britain imposed a national lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 in March, Max Woosey, 10, set out to raise 100 pounds for a local hospice that looked after his neighbours Rick and Sue who died of cancer, fearing it would suffer due to the pandemic restrictions.

FILE PHOTO: Max Woosey, 10, who has spent 200 nights sleeping in a tent to remember his late neighbours, is seen with his dog in this undated handout photo, in Braunton, Britain. Courtesy Rachael Woosey/Handout via REUTERS

His camp-out idea was inspired by Rick, who gave Max his tent shortly before he died, telling him to have an adventure in it.

"He was an amazing man - he was super fit, he loved the outdoors," Max, who lives in Braunton, southwest England, told Reuters.

Since he began, he has had to cope with an ants' nest under his tent which left him covered in red marks, but he said the weather had been the biggest issue, with the tent needing to be tethered down in the middle of the night during storms.

"I'm planning to do a year in the tent and then see where it goes from there really," Max said, before his mum, Rachael, interjected: "Then he's coming inside."

"No, I'm not," Max replied.

(Writing by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)