Anna Robb
20 November 2024, 4:30 PM
He is a young fundraising superstar fighting for a cause close to his heart - and now he has been nominated for a humanitarian award.
Cromwell Primary School pupil Lochie Win (11) has been selected as a finalist in The Fred Hollows Foundation Humanity Awards 2024.
He was nominated by his teacher Claire Lincoln due to his fundraising efforts for the Cancer Society.
The Fred Hollows Humanity Awards are a global movement created to recognise passionate children striving to make the world around them better.
Lochie has raised more than $60,000 for the Cancer Society through skiing feats across New Zealand in his visible yellow ski jacket.
This year he spent daffodil day at Coronet Peak selling raffle tickets, 100 daffodils and collecting donations.
Lochie’s Dad Luke said it was a complete surprise for Lochie when he was congratulated at school assembly for being a finalist.
“We’d been sitting on it for a month, and keeping quiet, that was hard.”
Luke said Lochie was very chuffed and humble about the achievement.
“As they were explaining about the humanity award [at assembly] all the kids started looking at Lochie, he started shrugging his shoulders.
‘’He feels a bit shy about it, he is very humble . . . he doesn't like that sort of recognition.”
Back in August 2022, at the age of eight, Lochie completed a 12 hour endurance ski challenge at Coronet Peak, netting the charity $26,500.
The day involved fifteen teams of four skiers or snowboarders who hit the slopes for those affected by cancer by skiing or snowboarding non-stop for either 12 or seven hours.
Lochie on the slopes in 2022. PHOTO: Supplied
That was Lochie’s third year of fundraising for the charity.
His other feats have been skiing for 40 days in 2020 (which began because of Cardrona’s 40th birthday) and he hit $11,000 for the Cancer Society.
In 2021 together with dad Luke Win, he travelled around New Zealand in a campervan to ski every ski field, raising $17,000.
Lochie’s mother Rebecca was diagnosed with adrenal cancer in 2018 and the Cancer Society was a huge support to Lochie and Luke and their broader family.
Luke’s dad has been fighting serious prostate cancer and recently stayed at Daffodil House in Christchurch.
“The ladies there put too and too together and asked him if Lochie was his grandson . . . that was cool and he was so proud.”
His dad is doing well but it was even more meaningful to the family to see the true benefit of what Lochie had achieved and how well known his fundraising efforts were.
“Those people that work at the Cancer Society and [as nurses at Daffodil house] are very special people,” Luke said.
Luke said he thinks Lochie will continue fundraising.
“He will have some sort of involvement with [the Cancer Society] for the rest of his life, he has a strong affiliation with them.
“He is thinking of doing the 12 hour again at Coronet Peak, it was a good return financially and a lot of fun.”
Fred Hollows, was a New Zealand ophthalmologist who dedicated his life to restoring sight and empowering communities around the world.
The Fred Hollows Foundation has been fighting to end to end avoidable blindness since 1992.
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