A PUB landlady has raised more than £12,000 for charity in just six months - inspired by her ‘beautiful’ baby grandson who was born without eyes.


Linzi Pollard, landlady of the Kings Oak Hotel in High Beach, was thrilled to welcome her first grandchild into the world when her daughter Xuxa gave birth on St George’s Day last year.


But her celebrations were cut short after doctors delivered the news that baby Calum had been born with Anophthalmia – a rare condition meaning he has no eyes and will never be able to see.


The family were left reeling after the shock diagnosis, but were offered vital support and advice by the Micro and Anophthalmic Children’s Society (MACS).

In February, Mrs Pollard, 51, made it her mission to raise an ambitious £10,000 for the charity - but just six months, several fundraising feats and one marathon later, has smashed through the £12,000 mark.


“I was continually holding my hand out to customers and everyone’s been marvellous. A big thank you to all our customers, all the local businesses and all my staff for their support,” she said.

Now a talkative toddler of 15 months, Calum has been fitted with a set of artificial eyes and – in the words of his doting grandmother – is ‘just beautiful’.

“He’s doing really well and he’s absolutely gorgeous. I keep asking him ‘how come you’re so handsome when you haven’t got your eyes?’. He just gives me a knowing smile.”


Anophthalmia is estimated to affect just one in 100,000 children and is almost impossible to detect in routine scans – meaning Calum’s family have been forced to tackle a ‘huge learning curve’ since his birth.

“It’s very humbling to see just how he makes sense of and copes with the world,” said Mrs Pollard.


“When you tell people he was born without his eyes, they can’t believe just how sweet he looks when they see him.

“His nickname is Woo and our motto around here is ‘everybody loves Woo’. He’s become a huge part of our family.”

Since setting herself the £10,000 target, Mrs Pollard has hosted a string of fundraising events at the pub and tackled her first London Marathon in April.

“I’m reasonably fit and healthy because of my job, but I did have to be quite serious with training because it was a real first for me,” she said.

“It was so incredible, I just smiled from start to finish. The minute I crossed the start line I just knew there was no way I wasn’t going to complete it.”

For more information about MACS, visit the charity’s website  or, for details of upcoming fundraising events, contact the Kings Oak Hotel on 020 8508 5000.

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