Reading's archaeologists make a little boy's dream come true

Wednesday, 07 August 2013

Young Laughlin Whiteley helps out at the Silchester dig

History-loving six year old Laughlin (Lockie) Whiteley spent a day helping our archaeologists at their dig in Silchester thanks to the Make-A Wish charity which organises wish days for children facing life-threatening conditions.

When Lockie arrived on site he was met by Amanda Clarke, Director of the Silchester Field School and shown around the dig site. He washed and sieved real life archaeological finds with students of the school, created, broke and fixed a pot and finally got muddy by digging for real finds in the trench.

Amanda Clarke said: "We were delighted to be able to share an archaeological day with Lockie. He was so passionate about every aspect of archaeology, and threw himself into every activity with huge enthusiasm. Seeing the excitement on his face - and the biggest of smiles - was a great reward for all of us and made the day worthwhile. I would have Lockie as a member of my excavation team at any time! Make-A-Wish certainly made his wish a reality."

Lockie, from Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2011. He has been through radiotherapy and chemotherapy and the thing that helped him through this was visiting the British Museum whilst receiving treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Lockie's mother, Andrea Poyser, said: "My favourite part of Laughlin's wish has been seeing his energy, enthusiasm, excitement and focus. This is what he wants to be, so seeing him digging and finding artefacts has been amazing. It's been the best experience."