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Community minded sports fans in Durham who have raised a huge £20,000 for St Cuthbert’s Hospice have pledged to go on with their charity work.

The Neville’s Cross Football Club has been fund raising for their local hospice, with annual football and golf matches, since 2007.

David Wood, of the club, said: “We were originally inspired to raise money for St Cuthbert’s Hospice after our friend Neil Aspinall died of cancer. We’ve run football matches every year and we’re very proud to have raised a total of £20,000. But we’re not going to give up.

“If people didn’t enjoy themselves at these events, we would just stop doing them but it’s a win-win situation. People in our community have a great time, they meet old friends and they raise money for a very worthy cause.”

This year there’ll be a “Old Boys versus Young Guns” game at the Meadowfield Sports Centre from 1.30pm on May 25th. A fund raising bucket will be passed around the crowd. Afterwards, supporters will meet from around 4.00 that evening at the Station pub in Langley Moor, for an evening of fund raising and fun, which will stretch beyond midnight.

The group is also putting on a community cricket match at Brandon Cricket Club on August 24th and a golf day at Boldon Golf Club on September 19.

David, of Littleburn Lane, Langley Moor, said: “The hospice doesn’t need a lot of selling. We in this community have supported St Cuthbert’s because is has helped and supported so many of our friends and families. There’s a willingness to give money because of the work St Cuthbert’s Hospice has done over the years. That’s why people get involved in the events.

And he added: “Raising twenty thousand pounds has only been made possible by the generous help of our team of organisers, the support of everybody in the community and our corporate sponsor, Barclay’s Bank.”

Fiona Vallis, deputy chief executive at St Cuthbert’s Hospice, said: “Twenty thousand pounds in donations is a truly amazing achievement.

“We are so grateful to Neville’s Cross Football Club, who we have been able to count on as supporters, for many years now. The team of supporters have fun and fundraise – it’s the way to do it and we and all our patients over the years are grateful.”

ENDS

PHOTO: Neville’s Cross Football Team and golf enthusiasts at ST Cuthbert’s Hospice, Neville’s Cross. From left. Andrew Whitehall, David Wood, Billy Brierley, Martin Lumley, Colin Sturdy.

For more information, contact Cliff Edwards, Communications Co-ordinator on 0191 386 1170 or email cliff.edwards@stcuthbertshospice.co.uk

Please visit our website at http://www.stcuthbertshospice.com/     

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