Melton boy’s novel raises nearly £1,000 for NHS workers
What started out as an idea while he was being home-schooled ended up with a Melton schoolboy raising nearly £1,000 for the NHS.
Jonasz Bettinson, who has just turned 10, needed to write a short story as part of work set by his teacher at the town’s Brownlow Primary School.
Mum, Anouska, was helping him with schools having been closed as part of the coronavirus restrictions and she recalls how he suddenly decided to write a children’s novel.
He scribbled away in long hand for a couple of weeks and finally finished his book, Awesome Adventures - Time Pulse - Episode 1, which has been enjoyed by lots of his friends.
Jonasz features in the story, which centres around a school trip to a military outpost where magic ensues after the children find a gold key.
The family set up an online fundraising page which has so far generated an impressive £977.
Anouska recalled when her son first got the idea: “He said ‘mummy I am going to write a book, I could share it with people and ask them to donate to charity’.”
“Jonasz wanted it to appeal to children because there are so many having to stay at home with their school being closed.
“He said he wanted to raise £150 when we put the JustGiving page up but by the next morning he had smashed that target and people have kept donating.
“It was so lovely because he could see people giving money and then leaving some really nice comments about his book.”
Jonasz, a keen reader who says his favourite book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is already working on a follow-up book.
His mum added: “Jonasz has got such a kind heart.
“He recently collected books for local children in care and we got so many we had to get a van to deliver them all.”
Dad, Sam, said he was ‘super proud’ of his little boy for writing the book and raising so much money for NHS Charities Together.
The couple also have a five-year-old son called Joel.
Go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jonasz-bettinson to donate a small contribuiton to Jonasz’s fundraising effort.
You can also email his mum at [email protected] to get a copy of the book, which is only in pdf format at the moment.