A fundraising appeal set up by the children of a hospital nurse has been given a big helping hand by AFC Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman. Charlie Creighton, aged nine, and sister Mollie, aged seven, wanted to support Southampton Hospital, having known about the heroic efforts of staff through their mum Amy, who works as a specialist nurse in the blood and marrow transplant team.
Following last Thursday’s #clapforourcarers, they set up their ‘Guess who is who’ fundraising page for the hospital’s charity, with a target of £150. However, by the start of this week, they had emphatically smashed through this goal thanks to a £10,000 donation by the Cherries midfielder.
Andrew Surman said “My wife’s friend is a specialist nurse and she sent us the fundraising page her children were doing. We were looking to make a donation but we were not quite sure where to put it. It came up and seemed like a good idea. We have had quite a lot of contact with the hospital. My grandad had treatment there, my wife’s gran had treatment there and my wife’s best friend passed away from cystic fibrosis and she had all her care there. I think coronavirus has made people realise how much the NHS actually do on a day-to-day basis without this crisis. It is something that is personal to us, which is what we were looking for.”
The former Saints talent, who lives in Hampshire, took the decision with his wife Laura to give the substantial contribution towards a charity they had a connection with.