AN 11-YEAR-OLD busker has raised over £3,000 in donations for a homeless charity.
Scarlett Chapman, from Hove, spent her Christmas holidays busking outside Churchill Square to raise money for Sussex Nightstop.
Scarlett added up the total of both online and in person donations and had raised £2,395.25 on Saturday, and has since raised even more.
Assisted by manager Adam Garrison at Metro Bank, Scarlett and Nightstop director Alison Marino poured the thousands of notes and coins into their "magic money machine".
Combined with hundreds of online donations to her Local Giving crowd funder page and with Metro Bank also giving an additional £200, Scarlett was presented with a giant cheque for the amount.
However, since then the article published by The Argus has helped raise a further £676.75, bringing the grand total to £3,072.75.
Scarlett, who is in year seven at Our Lady of Sion School in Worthing on a music scholarship, began busking three years ago in a bid to help homeless people in the city.
She said: "Well there were so many homeless people on the street and I thought nobody should go through that.
"I was only eight and I had no clue why there were homeless people on the streets, so I asked my mum and dad and of course there was no straight answer.
"Then I asked what can I do to help and I had just started to sing as well, and yeah my dad introduced me to busking and I thought I could raise money for these charities that do so much for people that are going through a tough time.
"The main reason I chose this charity this year is because they are helping young people with this issue."
A video of Scarlett busking in December has been added to her YouTube channel and it now has more than 8,000 views.
A spokeswoman for Sussex Nighstop said: "We’re planning to spend the money she raises recruiting and training more volunteers.
"Experts predict an increase in homelessness when benefits introduced to support people during the pandemic cease and cost of living, especially energy price hikeS, are bound to have an impact too.
"So increasing our capacity to respond is vital."
To donate to Scarlett's fundraiser visit localgiving.org/fundraising/singing-to-help-end-homelessness-in-brighton/.
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