Beaver Scout’s £1000 Good Turn

A disabled Beaver Scout from Luton has raised nearly £1,000 to support his favourite Scout Leader on his way to the World Scout Jamboree in America next year. It is the youngster’s way of saying ‘thank you’ for all the help he has received. 

Six-year-old Archie Illsley was born with the crippling disease Lymphoedema in both arms and legs which means he has to wear compression garments to control the swelling. But he reckons the friendly Scouts at the First Luton Sea Scouts helped him to forget his troubles when he joined them last year.

He met young leader Andrew Willmer who has looked after him from day one. The leader goes that extra mile spending time playing football, helping with swimming, making him feel included at Beaver meetings and just being a normal six-year-old. It is a special bond that has been a tremendous boost to Archie’s confidence.

Archie and his mum Joanne decided to give Andrew a good turn for all his hard work by launching a fundraising event called Jump for the Jamboree to help Andrew with his contribution to the Jamboree fund. To everyone’s surprise the fund has so far raised over £900 and looks set to make £1,000.

Joanne said, “It was a struggle for Archie but he kept jumping for his friend Andrew. At times it was painful but jumping is great for helping to eliminate fluid. He was very proud to help Andrew on his way to next year’s World Scout Jamboree.”

In a final twist to the story Joanne discovered that the Luton Jump Arena had closed down just days after the event and were unable to support a voucher they awarded Archie. Fortunately, a local business man heard about the problem and kindly donated vouchers for use at the nearby Luton Orbital trampoline park.

After the event Archie was lead story on the Lymphoedema Support Network Facebook page who called the young Scout “Inspirational”.

You can still donate to the fund at:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/joanne-illsley-1.