Leeds plumber and YouTuber on a mission to raise £1m for cancer charity after tragic death of daughter

Allen Hart and his wife Joanne, from Yeadon, lost their daughter Laura in 2007 after she was diagnosed with Wilms' Tumour, a rare kidney cancer which affects only about 70 children a year in the UK.

Mr Hart spent two years by Laura's side in hospital where she underwent a string of treatments.

The family clung to the support offered by Leeds-based charity Candlelighters, which visited the family in hospital, paid for Joanne to have driving lessons and organised a respite holiday.

Mr Hart has since vowed to keep fundraising for Candlelighters, which has seen its income devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

He has already raised more than £100,000 on a JustGiving page, organising boiler swaps and installs for the charity and gathering support through Facebook trades groups.

Mr Hart's latest venture is a YouTube channel, where he shares tutorials on everything from how to install underfloor heating to building a man cave.

With 42,000 subscribers and more than four million views a month, he hopes to use the platform to raise money for the charity which he says is now "in his blood".

Mr Hart told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "I spent two years in and out of hospital, I stayed there every night. We went from having jobs to your life just totally changing.

"Walking into hospital and seeing poorly children, it wasn't anything I'd ever experienced before.

"It totally changed my life, it changed my outlook - it changed everything about me.

"I feel like I've got Candlelighters in my blood. Whatever I do, I always try to have an angle where I can earn a little bit of money for Candlelighters."

Mr Hart has been approached by businesses looking to advertise on his growing YouTube channel. Instead of asking for cash, he directs them to the Candlelighters page to donate.

"It's been a long-term effort, but my goal is to raise £1million before I die", he said.

"I wanted to build up my YouTube first, then once it's at a decent level I want to use it as an opportunity to raise money for charity.

"I don't think there's any stopping us now, it's massive. It's a worldwide audience I can reach.

"I get donations from people paying in dollars, in euros, people from around the world that I've helped in videos have started to donate."

Mr Hart said he will never forget the support that Candlelighters provided in his time of need.

He added: "I want there to be a reason that my daughter was alive and for something really good to come out of it.

"By raising so much money and helping so many families, I think it's a lovely thing to do."

A spokesperson for Candlelighters said: "We have supported the families of children with cancer in Yorkshire for over 40 years and never has this support been more vital than today.

"The Covid-19 pandemic is the single biggest threat to our charity and the care that we provide that we have ever witnessed.

"Since the beginning of the first UK lockdown, our income has been devastated, and we predict it will take several years for this to recover to pre-pandemic levels.

"We must continue to support families, now and long into the future.

"We rely on fundraising like Allen's to provide this support and send a huge thank you for his incredible contributions to the charity."

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