An Ely tattoo studio has raised more than £3,300 at their Disney-themed charity day in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Almost Angels Tattoo Family, based at Fore Hill in the city, created dozens pre-designed Disney artwork ahead of the fundraising day on Saturday (April 20).
The idea came about following a conversation with one of the studio’s guest artists, Richard Barclay who spent most of his childhood in the care of the hospital.
Mr Barclay, who has his own tattoo studio in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, is one of many guests who work at the Almost Angels store.
Steve Tucker, manager, who was one of five artists working on Saturday, said: “I am absolutely blown away from the response we had this weekend.
“People were queuing outside the shop from quarter to nine and we weren’t starting the event until 10am so that was incredible.”
Mr Barclay created one-off designs for the fundraising event, merging the Great Ormond Street Hospital logo with popular Disney characters.
The East Cambridgeshire studio hoped to raise £2,000 through the Disney tattoos and raffle – but they smashed their target, netting more than £3,000.
Steve added: “There were way more people than we imagined and we would definitely do this event again, we are thinking about doing one every year.”
The ‘Disney flash’ event was planned to finish at 4pm, but the team of artists didn’t finish the final tattoo until 5.45pm – making sure everyone was inked.
The team say they all felt emotional at the end of the day and that the feedback they received on the day and on social media was out of their expectations.
A total of £3,373 was raised at the Fore Hill fundraiser with 100 per cent of the money going to the London-based Great Ormond Street children’s hospital.
Before the event, Steve told this newspaper: “The response from social media has been amazing.
“It has been like a light disco with all of our phones going off. We’re all geared up and very excited.
“We knew this event would be popular purely because of Disney. Everyone has seen the films and it just brings out the child in us all.”
All artists worked voluntarily without a break to make sure everyone that turned up to the studio got their Disney tattoo.
To keep up to date with Almost Angels Tattoo Family, visit their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AlmostAngelsTattooCo
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