A teenager who earns £38,000-a-year making YouTube videos of himself playing Grand Theft Auto has vowed to give away thousands of pounds – to a homeless charity.
Fred Pye, 17, started posting clips of himself playing computer games three years ago and has since amassed a staggering 40 MILLION views across the globe.
But after a record year – where he earned around $60,000 (£38,000) – he decided to treat a homeless man called Gabriel to a £400 bag of warm clothing, hotel vouchers and food.
The student’s pals filmed the touching exchange and the bedroom entrepreneur has pledged to donate a dollar from his own coffers for every time the video is shared online.
The clip has been viewed 13,870 times and shared by 74 people since it was posted just a few days ago.
Fred said he will make a share-based donation to a homelessness charity every month for the next year.
The teenager, from Shrewsbury, Shrops., said: “Every Christmas I always try to do something out of the ordinary because I think I’m in a fortunate position and I like to find people to help – especially over the cold Christmas time.
“I never really thought about what I was doing I suppose.
“I just wanted to help him and I didn’t really think about the implications after that.
“It felt really good. I would have just wasted the money on something I didn’t need. I wouldn’t spend that money as good as he would.”
Savvy Fred started his You Tube channel NoughtPointFourLive in 2011 when he was a 14-year-old, and uploads clips offering gamers advice and tricks for Grand Theft Auto.
He has amassed 277,453 subscribers and his videos have been viewed 40,867,720 times, earning him around #3,000 in advertising a month.
The young entrepreneur runs his business from a bedroom in the house he shares with parents Diane and Martin despite currently studying for his A-levels.
The sixth-former convinced two friends from college – Matthew Powell, 17, and Will Sanders, 16 – to come to Birmingham with him for the good deed on Sunday.
He found Gabriel near the city’s Mailbox area and asked if he wanted to be part of his Christmas donation, and what gifts would be most useful to him.
The trio set off and spent around £400 on warm gloves, thermals, a holdall, hotel vouchers, warm clothes, food, a mobile phone with top ups and even a pack of playing cards.
The 12-minute film shows the friends buying the presents, before wrapping them up and putting them in a holdall – complete with a card – and handing it over to grateful Gabriel.
The homeless man from Ireland, who has been on the streets for five months after he was kicked out by his landlord said on the film: “Oh my god thanks so much lads.
“Lads, I really appreciate this. There’s not many people that do this.
“There’s some good people, I have to say.
“It’s like all my Christmases at once. I don’t know what to say.”
Fred, who is going to donate a dollar to a yet-to-be-chosen homeless charity for every share he gets this year, added: “I thought that by wrapping up the presents it might make it a but more nostalgic and special.
“I’ve given him my number if he ever wants to call.
“I’m confident I’m going to have enough to cover the shares, and if I don’t I can go back to people I work and do additional work here and there.”
To watch the video visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=