Fergus approached teachers at Point View Primary School to ask for their help with a fundraising campaign in the lead-up to Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Week.
It’s not the first time the Year 6 student has helped to raise money for research into the condition, for which there is still no cure.
“I know a lot of kids who have cystic fibrosis and it’s a life-threatening illness,” says Fergus. “They don’t get Government funding towards research for finding a cure.
“So I thought that we could start fundraising at school to help them.”
His selfless act soon turned into a school-wide campaign, with the student school council arranging meetings to plan the best ways to raise money.
With the help of teachers, Fergus and the school community planned a series of fundraisers from a whacky hair and hat day, to a bake-off and a raffle.
Fergus was gutsy enough to deliver a presentation at a school assembly to help younger pupils better understand exactly what cystic fibrosis entails.
“People need to understand what they are raising money for,” he says.
“If people don’t get what it’s about they don’t want to know, so it’s important we can teach them about it.”
A close family friend of Fergus was diagnosed with the disease a little more than two years ago.
Tayler Payne, who is two-and-a-half, is facing a lifetime of the unknown. Fergus says he wants to be able to do whatever he can to help find a cure for his little friend.
“I want to do something that will help people in the world,” he says. “I want to help treat people and I’m interested in finding cures to illnesses.”
Tayler’s mum Stephanie says it’s hard to believe that someone as young as Fergus can be so selfless.
“I think it’s amazing a child of his age wants to help out a charity such as this,” she says.
Mrs Payne filmed Fergus’ school presentation and was impressed with the youngster’s ability to educate others about the disease.
“He was so to the point and on the students’ level. He was so passionate about it, it made me cry.”
The mum says all the money raised from Point View School’s campaign will go towards the awareness week, which starts on on August 3.
“It not so much about how much money we raise as it is about getting the awareness out there – it’s such an unknown illness,” she says.
Meanwhile, Fergus continues to raise awareness in the community and his red bucket collection on Friday was expected to be a big success.
