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Raising money for North Devon hospice since he was 10 years old.
Max has always been one for adventures. Growing up he and his father, used to go on camping and hiking adventures together.
When Max was 10 years old, he and his family started caring for an elderly neighbour, Rick Abbott, who was very sick with cancer. Max would go and chat to Rick and keep him company so that he wouldn’t feel lonely. Over time Max and Rick grew close and bonded over their shared love of adventures and camping. Just before Rick died, he gave Max a tent and made him promise to go on an adventure with it. At about this time, the first Covid-19 lockdown came, and Max realised that charity shops were forced to shut so they weren’t raising any money. It is then that Max had the perfect idea – he would sleep out in his garden and raise money for North Devon Hospice that had looked after Rick so well.
Max told his mother of his plans, and she initially told him that he could not camp out – he was too young and it might be dangerous. Eventually, after a lot of tactful persuading and perseverance Max managed to persuade her to let him camp out for a few days. But what started as a few day challenge snowballed into a 2-year-long adventure. With grit, determination and resilience, Max did not let anything get in the way of his camping intentions. He has camped in all sorts of places (including the London Zoo and outside Downing Street!) and in all sorts of weather (including the howling winds and battering rain of storm Eustice). And he has inspired hundreds of children (& some celebrities!) around the world to join Max on ‘Max’s Big Camp Out’.
So far Max and ‘Max’s Big Camp Out’ have raised more than £800,000! In 2022 Max was awarded a British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours List, becoming one of the youngest people ever to receive one of these. Max’s determination not to give up is exemplary. He says, ‘If it gets tough then it is really important to keep going. Even when my tent has got wet or I have been scared I have never given up and gone back inside. It is sometimes hard but now I know that I can cope and I feel really proud of what I have done’.
