A hard-working fundraiser has dreamed up a new way to support his chosen charity and is appealing for help from businesses across East Anglia. Tony Harris hopes to arrange a day’s employment at 66 different companies as a way of celebrating his 66th birthday this May.
In the process, he hopes to turn his hand to a range of professions and plans to donate every penny he earns to East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices (EACH). Tony, who lives in Rushmere St Andrew, took early retirement two years ago and used to be a train driver for Greater Anglia.
“There must be so many things I can do to help, while at the same time raising valuable funds for EACH,” he said.
“It’ll give me something to focus on and I’m happy to do anything for anyone, as long as they’re willing to pay me a day’s wages. I’ve done lots of different things in my life, from managerial, training and office work to manual roles and working in factories.
“Recently I’ve been driving a large van delivering fruit and vegetables. I’ve picked up lots of transferrable skills along the way which will help in a range of settings and within various professions.”
Bizarrely, the inspiration for the fundraiser came from a dream. Now Tony is intent on making it a reality and wants to hear from businesses or employers keen to take him on for a day. He is willing to complete any training or induction in his own time and the money he earns will go straight into a JustGiving kitty, paid directly to EACH.
The fundraising page is www.justgiving.com/Tony-Harris19
“I’d been thinking of ways I could raise funds for this wonderful charity,” he said.
“Then I had this dream and luckily woke up and remembered it. Anyone interested in taking me up on my offer can drop me a line and I’ll get back to them to fix something up. We can discuss when and where and I’m happy to travel anywhere in East Anglia.
“The reason I chose EACH is because I used to live in Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, near The Treehouse. I’ve always been aware of the great work the charity does and have so much respect for it. I can’t begin to imagine how parents must feel when they have children with life-threatening conditions and want to do whatever I can to help.”
Tony, who has a full, clean driving licence, can be contacted via his new, special email account, eachtask4tony@hotmail.com He hit the local headlines last May after writing his debut novel – a “thriller, mystery, whodunnit” called Suffolk’s Last Cold War Victim – and donating royalties to EACH.
Available via Amazon, the novel centres around the eventful life of investigative reporter George Mitchell and a real old Suffolk pensioner. 100% of all royalties in 2023 will be donated to EACH.
“I’ve now drafted the screenplay and would love for a production company to consider a film version,” he said. Any proceeds would be evenly split with EACH.
“I’d also love to write another book based on my Task For Tony experiences and will again donate all royalties to EACH. That would be wonderful, so let’s hope there’s enough interest from East Anglian businesses.”
