A young woodworker has gone viral after his dad issued a plea for people to follow his Instagram account.
Richard Clark, a director and screenwriter based in Cumbria, said that his 12-year-old son had been being teased at school for having a relatively small following on his woodworking Instagram page.
He said that Gabriel spends hours making beautiful wooden bowls and chopping boards but had been left ‘heartbroken’ by his peers ‘taking the p*ss out of him’.
The youngster has self-taught himself the craft so that he can sell his items and save up to buy his own mountain bike.
Gabriel thanking his new followers for their support. Credit: Instagram, @clarkie_woodwork
Within days of his dad’s heartfelt message, Gabriel has racked up a whopping quarter of a million followers – and counting.
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And the young lad’s response is pretty touching too.
He’s chosen to take his new-found Instagram fame and use it to raise money for the humanitarian effort in Ukraine.
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Gabriel has crafted a beautiful wooden bowl, etched with a blue and yellow ring (the colours of the Ukraine flag), which he’ll auction off to the highest bidder – and all the money will go to charity.
Gabriel’s Ukraine bowl
Young woodworker Gabriel’s talent has gone viral. Credit: Instagram, @clarkie_woodwork
He posted a thank you video on his Clarkie_woodwork account, saying the surge in support ‘really means a lot to me’.
He also stressed that he was going to struggle to keep up with demand, because he also has ‘school and homework’ to contend with.
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Richard’s original post said: “Lovely twitter people – I don’t know how many of you are also #instagram users but I’m looking for a wee favour. I’ve a 12yr old who loves woodwork. He spends hours on his lathe making bowls and creating chopping boards which he’s sells to save up for a mountain bike.
“He’s created himself an instagram page to proudly show what he can do. Only the little ***** at his school have found out he’s only got a handful of follows and are now taking the piss out of him and ridiculing the thing he most loves. He’s heartbroken.
“So I was wondering if any of you fancied giving him a boost and following him on instagram at clarkie_woodwork it would make his day. Thanks in advance and feel free to retweet!”
He later wrote: “Well twitter ‘you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off’. I was hoping for 60 followers not 40k! You’re all lovely crazy soppy fools. Serious karma & social media at its best.”
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What a lovely tale and what a talented young man.
Featured image:Twitter, @rclarkie
News
Jackass star Bam Margera cancels Manchester shows due to ‘injury’ after street fight video emerges
Danny Jones
Former Jackass star Bam Margera has had to cancel both of his Manchester shows just hours before the first event was supposed to take place due to injury.
The skater, TV personality, filmmaker and former stunt performer is currently in the UK for his Q&A tour and live interview series with DJ and presenter Matt Stocks, having recently played in Glasgow and a pair of shows in the Republic of Ireland.
However, the 44-year-old has unexpectedly had to cancel both of his intimate conversation dates at Gorilla in the city centre, with the venue citing “unforeseen complications emerging from a recent injury”.
He was set to play this evening and again next week on Tuesday, 30 April, with the shows billed as somewhat of a meet and greet with Margera and him “talking from the heart”.
INFO REGARDING BAM MARGERA SHOWS ON 23RD/30TH APRIL
"Due to unforeseen complications emerging from a recent injury, it is with regret that this tour is now cancelled. We are sorry to those excited to meet Bam on this tour. Refunds will be available from point of purchase" pic.twitter.com/4OGQ6hUZVq
While details surrounding how the scrap arose and the identity of the other man in the video still remain scarce, Margera has officially claimed self-defence. He can be heard shouting several expletives in the man’s direction throughout the altercation.
Responding to what he called a ‘bum fight’ on his other Instagram page, he tells 911: “Get a police officer here. Los Angeles Police Department is fucking worthless…
“You should be ashamed of yourselves… It’s been two hours of us trying to sleep and, fucking, this dude’s throwing shit everywhere and nobody showed up.”
Speaking to TMZ, a representative from his team reiterated that the unidentified male was the aggressor and eventually exited the situation with both parties leaving without injury at the time.
That being said, is still unclear as to whether the incident and the cancellation of his Gorilla shows in Manchester are linked.
Offering a separate statement directly, he added: “I’m not going to be threatened or attacked without defending myself and my friends or people trying to just walk by this idiot, I aimed only to neutralize the threat and ensure the safety of my crew.”
Bam’s rep told the outlet that the altercation ended with no injuries and the aggressor eventually departed and he is still yet to issue a response after calling off the remainder of his dates.
FA Cup final confirmed for 3pm kick-off time as Metropolitan Police stress safety for fans
Danny Jones
The start time for the 2023/24 FA Cup final has officially been confirmed with holders Manchester City and challengers Manchester United set to kick off at 3pm on Saturday, 25 May.
It’s a Manc final for the second year running and yet another Manchester Derby this year as City beat Chelsea on penalties to try and defend one of their trophies from last season and Man United did just about enough to scrape through against Coventry City this past weekend.
Logistics and travel arrangements for the conclusion of last year’s FA Cup proved problematic, with the Metropolitan Police stressing that they needed the schedule brought forward to try and help curb crowd trouble – the first time the final had been reverted back to a traditional 3pm start since 2011.
Kick-off times for the knockout tournament have varied for the last three finals, having taken place at 4:45 and 5:15pm in the two years prior to 2023’s first-ever all-Manchester final, but it looks as though the same rationale has been put in place once again.
The kick-off time for the FA Cup final has been confirmed for 3pm.
As per an official statement by the FA, the final has now been officially confirmed as 3pm BST which has been agreed with local authorities, members of the Safety Advisory Group and broadcasters, as well as with the clubs who must take the time needed for fans to travel to and from Wembley into consideration.
While pockets of fighting broke out before and after the game last year, it was deemed that this time would still be the best kick-off time for all parties involved and there will, of course, be an increased police presence in London for the game next month.
Although prioritising safety comes as welcome news, it’ll no doubt prove to be a blow to broadcasters who prefer later kick-offs when eyeing up peak audience numbers; the game is also set to clash with ITV’s coverage of the rugby as the Investec Champions Cup final is also due to start at 2:45pm.
With last season’s historic FA Cup final being the first time the two sides had met in the final in the entire history of the oldest competition in all of football, it rounded off a massive year of viewing figures for the tournament which has continued to hit record numbers in 2024.
The game will once again be shown live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and ITV1; ITVX, UTV, as well as STV, and there will no doubt be huge screenings of the game all over Greater Manchester, where an increased police presence is also expected.
Daisy Jackson -
29th March 2022 
