A 12-year-old bagpiper has donated £19,000 to his school pipe band after an incident in Edinburgh city centre. Elliot Wilson was busking in Princes Street Gardens earlier this month when a group dressed in black approached him and allegedly threw a sticky substance at him and his case. He later launched a fundraiser to cover the cost of dry cleaning his kilt and buying a replacement pipe case.Donations from more than a thousand people exceeded his expectations, reaching £19,000. Elliot decided to give the money to Preston Lodge pipe band, of which he is a member, to turn the ordeal into something positive for his community. According to the Edinburgh Evening News, he has since presented the band with a cheque.
Elliot Wilson donated the £19,000 fundraiser to his school pipe band
Elliot Wilson decided to donate the money raised through his crowdfunding campaign to Preston Lodge pipe band. The 12-year-old is a member of the band, which has almost 100 young people playing in it. After the fundraiser received far more donations than expected, Elliot chose to use the money to support the group and its members.The donation reached £19,000 after more than a thousand people contributed to the fundraiser. Elliot later presented a cheque to the band on Friday. Preston Lodge Pipe Band is a registered charity, and the money will help it purchase instruments and meet its running costs. Elliot said he wanted to turn the negative experience into something positive for the school pipe band and his fellow members.
The fundraiser began after an incident in Princes Street Gardens
Elliot was busking in Princes Street Gardens in Edinburgh earlier in October when he was approached by a group dressed entirely in black. The group allegedly threw a sticky substance at the young piper and his case.After the incident, Elliot posted about what had happened on social media and started a crowdfunding page. His initial aim was to raise money to pay for dry cleaning his kilt and buying a replacement pipe case.However, the response from the public was much greater than he and his family had expected. Donations continued to arrive, taking the total to £19,000.
How the £19,000 donation will support Preston Lodge pipe band
The money raised by Elliot will help Preston Lodge pipe band purchase a second-hand pair of drums costing £9,000. The remaining funds will also support the band’s day-to-day running costs.These expenses include maintaining instruments, travelling to competitions and purchasing uniforms. With almost 100 young people playing in the band and new members joining regularly, the organisation needs to purchase and maintain equipment and uniforms.Pipe major Lee More said, “We work hard on fundraising to ensure that personal financial circumstances are not a barrier to participating in band activities and trips so this is a huge boost to our finances which will help us ensure we can continue to provide young people with these opportunities for longer.”
Elliot Wilson thanked everyone for turning the incident into something positive
Elliot said the amount raised had gone far beyond anything he could have expected. He added that both his pipe major and headmaster were delighted that a negative event had turned into something positive for the school pipe band.He said, “Thank you once again to every single person who has donated, shared the fundraiser, sent a message, offered support or simply thought of me and my family over the last few days.”“Your kindness has meant more to us than we can put into words.”
