A self-proclaimed 'rubbish' portrait artist of people's pets has won JustGiving's Creative Fundraiser of the Year 2022 after raising £200,000 for a local homeless charity.
Artist Hercule Van Wolfwinkle – aka Phil Heckels of Worthing – beat tens of thousands of nominations to become a finalist and subsequently be voted the overall winner of the prestigious award.
Phil is now internationally known for his animal portraits, which started one afternoon after he doodled his dog and posted it on Facebook.
Little did he know that post would go viral, and his work would soon be in high demand with requests from all over the globe for his 'rubbish' portraits flooding into his inbox.
All the funds raised from his artwork went to West Sussex charity Turning Tides who work towards ending local homelessness, and StreetVet who work in keeping those experiencing homelessness and their pets, healthy and together.
To date, Phil has raised an amazing £200,000 for the two charities and this amount continues to increase, raising vital money to support Turning Tides' under-funded frontline services.
The ceremony for the national awards was held in London on Monday 10th October, which, fittingly, also happened to be World Homeless Day. It celebrated the inspiring people and charities making the world a better place.
Phil said of his win:
“My imposter syndrome has been sent into overdrive. When I posted that first rubbish picture of my dog on Facebook a little over two years ago, I had no idea I’d end up here. But it’s not my silly pictures that have got the fundraising to where it is today, it’s the generosity of others.
"I can never articulate what it means when people donate but thank you – thank you is all I have! Everybody nominated who is raising money or doing something to make the world a little bit better for the other people in it are all winners in my eyes.”
Ruth Poyner, Head of Fundraising and Communications at Turning Tides, commented:
“Hercule’s portraits bring light-hearted fun to his followers on a daily basis. The generosity of their donations is enormously appreciated, especially at this crucial time with the cost-of-living crisis increasing the need for our services. Our gratitude is immeasurable.”
The Fundraiser of the Year JustGiving Awards take place annually and are split into eight categories. The fundraising platform has 22 million users worldwide and the awards have tens of thousands of nominations each year.
You can find out more about Hercule's journey by following his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/portraitsbyhercule
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