Charity
Charlie
When teenager Charlie Doherty was just four years old, he made a
life-changing decision - that he was going to sacrifice his birthday presents,
instead asking for money to be donated for charity.
The reason was he had seen the
devastating effects of the 2004 tsunami
while watching television.
He said: “I saw the loss of lives and
homes being knocked down by what
started as raindrops and I just couldn’t
see how that was right and how that was
happening, and so for my fifth birthday,
which was shortly after, I asked for
money instead of birthday presents and I
gave that money to charity – the tsunami
charity that was the first thing I did.”
Charlie, now 13, said that when he first
started asking his mum, Julie, for money
instead of birthday presents, she kept
saying no but he persisted.
He said: “Mum said if I kept asking for
money instead of presents, she’d cancel
my birthday party, so I turned round and
said to her ‘I don’t see why I have to
have so much when some people don’t
have anything’ and then she realised
that’s what I wanted. I started that on my
fifth birthday and I’ve done it for every
birthday since. With my friends, I ask
them for money too and that has gone
to numerous charities. As I’ve grown up,
I’ve found out about more charities.”
When Charlie was six, he went to Bosnia
with his mum for a sm