A young boy has been delighting locals with his enterprising idea to raise money for charity. 

For a number of days Luke Wood, 11, has been setting up a mini arcade stall outside of his home on Queens Drive and is encouraging people to pay 10p to have a go on his claw machine with the chance of winning a sweet. 

Passers-by have been impressed with Luke's entrepreneurial spirit and have happily stepped up to chance their luck, with queues of people waiting for their turn

The money raised by Luke's endeavour will be going towards Cats Protection because he loves cats. 

Swindon Advertiser: Luke at his store with his feline helper!Luke at his store with his feline helper!

Luke's mum, Rebecca 47, explained that Luke got the idea after a man named Tim Hall did a talk at Lainesmead Primary School's Enterprise Day.

"Tim gave a talk, which Luke thoroughly enjoyed, and this inspired him to set up his own business. He thought about this carefully for a while and remembered that he had a mini arcade “grabby” claw machine under his bed, which he had persuaded me to buy him from the local charity shop some time ago."

Luke set up the machine on a table and made a sign advertising 10p a go and was busy from the first day of 'opening'. Passing-by cars even turned around and parked to have a go

On the first day, he earned £3.50 profit and added a further. On day two that profit was smashed with a haul of £16.50. 

Seeing so many people stopping to take part has meant a lot to Rebecca who said that Luke is a quiet and shy boy who was badly affected by the Pandemic and this has helped him.  

"The stall has given Luke the opportunity to meet new people, and his confidence has really grown. I think this will help him as he goes on to start Secondary school in September. I am very proud of him."

Swindon Advertiser: A member of the public having a go at Luke's arcadeA member of the public having a go at Luke's arcade

Luke said: “I was very surprised by the amount of money I made, and how many visitors came to my stall.

"I wanted to donate to Cats Protection because I love cats and not all of them are treated fairly and getting fed enough like our cats are.

“My cat, Tom, is now fourteen and he is my business mascot. He helps me on the stall and a lot of people stop and pet him. When he takes a break, Sparrow, one of our other cats is happy to lend a paw.

“My dream is to open an arcade one day."