Girl, 8, donates birthday money to local sculptor

3 hours ago

Alice CunninghamSuffolk

News image — Amelie wanted to donate some money given to her on her birthday to artist Sharon Kulesa

Contributed A little girl wearing a blue and white school dress stands in front of a wooden fence. A life-sized sculpture of Woody from the film Toy Story is sitting on top of the fence. He is wearing a brown cowboy hat, yellow and red chequered shirt, a jacket with a cow print on it and blue trousers. — Amelie wanted to donate some money given to her on her birthday to artist Sharon Kulesa

An artist known for making celebrity sculptures was "gobsmacked" when a girl decided to donate some of her birthday money towards her creations.

Sharon Kulesa, 46, from Stowmarket, Suffolk, is known for creating life-sized models of the likes of David Attenborough, Claudia Winkleman and Ed Sheeran.

About three weeks ago, there was a knock on her door and she was surprised to find eight-year-old Amelie, from the town, offering more than £20.

Kulesa said no-one had ever offered money towards her creations before, while Amelie said she was "inspired" to help.

Contributed A letter written by a girl that reads: "Sharon, I wanted to give you some of my money because your sculptures are amazing and hopefully this will help and go towards more of them! Love Amelie." There are some pound coins and a £10 note resting at the top of the letter. — The letter Amelie wrote to Sharon Kulesa

"I was absolutely gobsmacked," Kulesa said.

"I didn't see initially how much was in it. I just thought even if it's a couple of pounds, that's brilliant.

"I almost started to cry... I gave her this big hug.

"It wasn't until I got back indoors and I opened up the envelope and I realised there was £23 in there, which is quite a hefty chunk."

Sharon Kulesa A woman - Sharon Kulesa - smiling at the camera while standing next to an effigy of Ed Sheeran which is wearing an Ipswich Town top and holding a guitar. — Kulesa previously said Ed Sheeran had been her favourite star to recreate

Kulesa said she created the sculptures "to spread joy in the neighbourhood and make people happy", and had not expected anyone to contribute towards their cost.

The raw materials for her mannequin-sized creations include stuffed tights, newspaper, kitchen foil and masking tape.

Amelie said: "I gave Sharon the money because I was really inspired by her sculptures.

"I thought it would take a lot of effort and money to create them, so I wanted to help so she could do more."

Contributed A little girl stands in front of a tall wooden fence. She has blonde hair and wears a denim jacket, blue dress, white tights and white trainers. A sculpture of King Charles sits on top of the fence wearing a crown, red regal coat, black trousers and black shoes. — Amelie said she had been inspired to try to create her own sculptures over the summer holidays

Sarah, 37, Amelie's mother, explained she had wanted to teach her daughter about gratitude.

When she was a baby and was gifted money, her parents would choose the charity to donate a proportion to.

As Amelie got older, they started to let her choose the charity or cause.

"We've done it every year since she was a baby. We want to instil in her gratitude as when it was her birthday she'd be given lots of things," Sarah explained.

"We wanted to help make sure she's being grateful and appreciate what she got and still be outward-looking."

In previous years, Amelie has donated to West Suffolk Hospital and charities including The Moses Project and Hands at Work in Africa.

"She's not doing it for the credit, she's not doing it to be recognised, other people haven't known that she does this," Sarah added.

"She does it just because it's the right thing to do."