A ‘flaming’ great idea – five-year-old boy raises over £16,000 for charity with virtual eBay Olympic torch relay, and it’s only just started!

A press release from Hearing Dogs For Deaf People:

A five-year-old boy is on the way to raising thousands of pounds for a national charity – who create life-changing partnerships between deaf people and hearing dogs – after his very own Olympic ‘torch relay’ captivated thousands of people across the UK.

Back in June, Logan McKerrow – from Chard in Somerset – made his own Olympic torch at school ahead of this summer’s London games and, with the help of his mum Kerry, decided to list the torch on eBay to raise money for charity after learning about the work of Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.

After initially being listed on the online auction site, the torch raised just under £150 for the Charity, having been bought by three generous eBay bidders.

But Logan’s luck took a dramatic turn when his story featured on BBC Breakfast (July 7 and 8) and touched the heart of millions of viewers.

Overnight, Logan’s fan club on Facebook grew by thousands. Meanwhile his eBay page and Hearing Dogs for Deaf People’s Justgiving page received hundreds of donations which currently stand at an incredible £16,000.

Both Logan and his mum are now keeping their fingers-crossed that the torch will attract even more bids from across the UK ahead of the games’ opening on July 27, raising more money for the Charity’s ‘Let’s hear it for deaf children’ appeal – which aims to help fund more partnerships between deaf children and hearing dogs.

The Charity has even named a hearing dog puppy after Logan – called ‘Logan’ – in recognition of his amazing achievement.

Kerry said: “When I told Logan that his torch had sold and I read out all the fantastic kind words from everyone involved, he was over the moon.

“The person who won the first auction was also blown away by Logan’s generosity, so much so that they wanted us to relist the torch on eBay and to try and raise some more money.

“During this listing, Logan’s granddad came up with a fabulous idea that each winning bidder and proceeding winning bidders make their own ‘torch relay’ and raise funds for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People in the process – and so the story began! Never in our wildest dreams did we think we’d raise this amount of money for the Charity.”

Hearing Dogs for Deaf People – who are currently celebrating their 30^th anniversary – train hearing dogs to alert deaf recipients to important household sounds and danger signals such as the alarm clock, doorbell and smoke or fire alarm both at home and in public places.

In addition, hearing dogs help to alleviate some of the stress, loneliness and isolation deafness can often bring giving recipients greater levels of independence, confidence and companionship at the same time.

Michele Jennings, chief executive at Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, added: “Ever since the Charity was launched in 1982, we have relied on the generosity of the public as we are a non-government funded organisation, so to learn of such an inspiring story as Logan’s really is fantastic.

“The lifetime cost of a hearing dog is around £45,000, so with this in mind, we would love to see more people take part in Logan’s torch relay, get into the Olympic spirit and raise funds for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People in the process.”

Back in March, the Charity announced that it would roll out a pilot project working with deaf children nationwide to sit alongside its existing 750 adult partnerships currently in operation.

And with around 45,000 children in the UK having a hearing loss, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People hopes that the ‘Let’s hear it for deaf children’ appeal will lead to an increase in the number of hearing dogs that can be trained each year for deaf children.

Since the Charity was launched in 1982 – co-founded by vet Dr Bruce Fogle, father of TV presenter Ben – it has created over 1,600 hearing dog partnerships.

To follow Logan’s Olympic torch relay, go to: www.facebook.com/logansolympictorch or head to: www.hearingdogs.org.uk/logan.