Five-year-old boy donates birthday gifts to charity

A five-year-old boy from Edinburgh has raised more than £360 for his favourite charity by donating his birthday gifts to Save the Children.

Young Iggy Justs charity choice proved popular

A pupil at Davidson’s Mains Primary School, Iggy Just decided he wanted others to have his presents when he celebrated his birthday with a dinosaur-themed party on Hogmanay.

With the help of his parents Natasha Collins-Just and Wojtek Just, he is already planning to spend the money on six goats, two water filters and number of mosquito nets.

The couple found themselves at a loss about what to give Iggy, who turned five on January 1, only days after opening all his Christmas presents.

“Since Iggy started P1 in August, the trend appears to be that the whole class is invited to any birthday parties,” said Natasha.

“We were fine with that but the last thing we wanted was 20 or 30 additional gifts for a wee boy who already has enough toys to put Hamley’s to shame.”

With their son’s approval, Natasha and Wojtek organised a Dino Disco birthday party and invited the whole class — along with cousins and some out-of-school friends — on condition that there would be no presents. Instead, everyone attending the party, was asked to make a donation to a fundraising page set up in Iggy’s name.

“At first Iggy was not sure about this suggestion, but once I’d explained that the money would be used to purchase gifts from the Save the Children wish-list — such as goats which could provide a family with milk, meat and an income — he soon became very excited and was totally committed to the idea,” said Natasha.

“Luckily, so were his party guests and through everyone’s generosity the total raised so far is a massive £360. Iggy is over the moon and he still had an awesome time at his Dino Disco, so everyone’s a winner.”

The family, who live in Silverknowes, would like thank everyone who embraced the idea and donated to the page.

“It looks like other P1 parents were also inspired, as the feedback has been amazing and some people even made donations knowing that they weren’t going to make it to the party,” said Natasha..

Anyone wishing to make a donation can support Iggy’s fundraising at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/IggyJust