AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl has raised over £1,000 for a homeless charity through busking.
Scarlett Chapman, from Hove, spent her Christmas holidays busking outside Churchill Square to raise money for Sussex Nightstop.
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.
"It is just so terrible to hear that it does happen and that children and teenagers are sofa surfing."
Scarlett said that she chose Nightstop because she saw the work they do to help young people find permanent homes.
Her father, James, set up a Local Giving page for Scarlett's fundraising so people can donate online as well giving cash when she sings.
She has raised well over £1,400 already and the final tally is being calculated this weekend, she says she is grateful for people's generosity.
She said: "This one man and he came up to me and I wasn't really looking but he handed me all these notes and I put it in my pocket to keep it safe.
"When my dad asked me for the money I handed it to him and there was £100 there."
A video of Scarlett busking in December has been added to her YouTube channel and has over 4.5k views.
This is the third year that Scarlett has raised money at Christmas for homeless charities, including Emmaus.
Last year, due to the pandemic, she could not go out busking so Scarlett wrote and released a song, raising £1,000 for Depaul UK.
Over the last three years her father believes she has raised more than £6,000.
To donate to Scarlett's fundraiser visit localgiving.org/fundraising/singing-to-help-end-homelessness-in-brighton/
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