A six-year-old boy has raised more than £30,000 for charity after his paper Olympic torch was sold 60 times on eBay and the proceeds donated by the buyers.
Enterprising Logan McKerrow made his model at school and decided to launch an ‘auction relay’ to raise money for good causes.
He first sold it for £21 and the buyer immediately re-listed it and sold it for £27.
Over the last 18 months the torch has travelled 21,000 miles to buyers all over the world including St Lucia, Luxemborg and Bulgaria.
Logan has now decided to end the relay at the 60th buyer – having raised a total of £34,000 for a dog charity.
His mum Kerry, 34, of Chard, Somerset, said: “We are all just so proud of him and it has been such an incredible journey.
“We can’t believe how it has captured the imagination of people. The Olympics was supposed to inspire a generation and it has certainly inspired Logan.”
Logan made the paper torch as a project in his reception year class at Avishayes Primary School in Chard last summer.
His mum told him how some of the official Olympic torchbearers were selling their torches for charity – and the schoolboy decided he wanted to do the same.
With the help of his parents, they listed the item with a 99p starting bid in May 2012 under the headline: “For charity – Logan’s Olympic relay torch”.
The buyer, Nik Jason, 42, a househusband from Gloucester, then offered to re-list the item and auction it again before donating the proceeds of that sale to charity.
He said: “I just stumbled across it one night while looking up how much the real torches were going for.
“I thought it was lovely that such a young lad was trying to raise money for charity so I thought I’d bid on it.
“It just snowballed after that and I can’t believe how it has taken off – it’s become a phenomenon.”
Logan then went onto Google and found a charity he wanted to back – Hearing Dogs for Deaf People – because he loves his mongrel pet Dexter.
Other the following months, the torch sold dozens of times and travelled from Jersey in the Channel Islands to the Highlands of Scotland to reach its buyers.
The highest selling price was £2,050 for the 4th buyer in the chain and one buyer even took it on holiday to St Lucia.
Logan has taken the torch to Downing Street and even met Lord Coe at the Olympics and David Beckham during the summer of 2012.
Logan, who lives with mum shop assistant mum Kerry, factory worker dad Andrew, 40, and sister Tamsin, seven, decided to end the sale at the 60th buyer because it reflects the Queen’s Golden Jubilee year.
Laura Maloney, 37, of Aldershot, Hants., was the 59th buyer and final seller of the torch.
She said: “The Olympics was about inspiring a generation and he’s done it himself – he’s inspired lots of people and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Fittingly, the final buyer was Hugh Gray-Wallis, 63, of Helston, Cornwall, who is hub manager at nearby RNAS Culdrose where the real Olympic torch first entered Britain.
“What more fitting way for Logan’s Torch to finish its journey,” he said.
“My wife, Maggie is a new recipient of a Hearing Dog called Nero. Whilst waiting for it we followed the touching story of ‘Logan’s Torch’.
“When I spotted that it was up for sale for the 60th and last time, I couldn’t help but bid to make Maggie and Nero the 60th Bearers of ‘Logan’s Torch’ and bring it back to Culdrose, was just too good to miss!”
Logan is aiming to reach a target of £50,000, which would fund the life of a guide dog from training to retirement.
He now plans to send his torch to the Queen in the hope she will accept it and become the 61st torchbearer on her 61st year on the throne.
To honour his efforts, Hearing Dogs for Deaf People has now named its latest doggie trainee ‘Logan’ in tribute.
* To donate to Logan’s appeal visit http://www.justgiving.com/
