A FUNDRAISING page set up in memory of the three teenagers who died in a fatal car crash near Shipston has exceeded its new £150,000 target.
The GoFundMe page was set up by friends of Harry Purcell, Matilda Seccombe and Frank Wormald who died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash on Friday April 21 on the B4035 Campden Road, near to Portobello Crossroads.
A fourth teenager who had been in the vehicle, Edward Spencer, survived but sustained serious injuries.
All four were sixth formers at Chipping Campden School and were travelling home when the crash happened – their car, a Ford Fiesta, colliding with a Fiat 500 carrying a woman and two children. All three occupants of the Fiat also sustained serious injuries.
Four air ambulances attended the scene – two of which were from the Midland Air Ambulance Service.
Their friend Alex Adams, 17 and an ex-student at Chipping Campden School, set up the fundraising page on Monday April 24 pledging to raise £25,000 for Midland Air Ambulance.
To that end, Alex announced he would be running the Oxford Half Marathon on October 15 with school friends Gracie and Taylor and called for donations to enable Midlands Air Ambulance to keep saving lives.
Just hours after the fundraising page was set up, donations exceeded the £25,000 target and within days a new, more ambitious target of raising £150,000 was set. This has now been exceeded thanks to generous donations from over 5,600 individuals and organisations. The current total stands at £154,199.
Alex said: “Us three teenagers will do everything we can to help this service save as many lives as possible so close communities like ours don’t have to suffer with loss. We hope you can join us in helping out this amazing service.”
The crash left two school communities in mourning – Chipping Campden School and also Alcester Grammar School which Matilda attended up until last year.
Floral tributes to the teenagers were left at the flagpole in the Chipping Campden School grounds.
And the families of the teenagers paid tribute.
Harry’s family said: “Our hearts are broken but our love for Harry will live forever.
“He was so kind in every way and carried with him a contagious smile that everyone around him loved so much.
“He will live on in everyone’s hearts and memories forever and never be forgotten.”
Tilly’s family said: “We are utterly devastated by the loss of our beautiful girl who made us so happy.
“Our hearts go out to all who knew her and will share this terrible pain. Thank you Tilly.
“We are blessed to have had you in our lives.”
Specialist officers from Warwickshire Police’s Serious Collision Investigation Unit are currently carrying out a detailed investigation to piece together the circumstances of the collision.
Anyone with any information is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 248 of 21 April 2023.
To donate visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-of-harry-frank-and-tilly?utm_campaign
