Handcuffed for 24 hours for charity (From This is Hampshire)

Handcuffed for 24 hours for charity

5:09pm Thursday 10th November 2011 in News By Melanie Adams, Health Reporter

IT WAS the ultimiate test of their friendship – handcuffed together for 24 hours, cooking, bathing and sleeping together.

But the struggles and sacrifices were worth it as Abbie Fuccio and Sarah Webb got the first few hundred pounds rolling in for the Daily Echo’s Every Step Appeal.

The duo endured strange looks as they ventured into Eastleigh, joined together with pink handcuffs, and Abbie’s fiance wasn’t too pleased when he was demoted to the sofa to make room for Sarah.

They came up with the fundraising idea after the appeal to raise £40,000 over the next 12 months for families fighting cancer was launched by the Daily Echo and children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

The efforts of Abbie, who is the shop manager at CLIC Sargent’s Shirley branch in Southampton, and market stallholder Sarah, who also braved stares at Bursledon petrol station for donations, raised £262 for the appeal.

Abbie, 23, said: “This is definietly the weirdest thing I have ever done but it really captured the imagination of the public who were intrigued about what we were doing, which encouraged them to donate.

“CLIC Sargent is such a great charity and I’m often brought to tears with stories I hear about children diagnosed with cancer so I wanted to do something to help them.

“I would urge everyone to think up a weird and wonderful fundraising idea for the Every Step Appeal because it is much more fun and gets a lot more attention.”