NHS Charities Together hails footballers funding initiative

LONDON: The chief executive of NHS Charities Together has welcomed Premier League players getting together to help the service cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and said: “This is what footballers have always been like.”

The NHSCT, an umbrella organisation which provides a national platform to smaller charities spread across the UK, will distribute funds from the players to the areas which need it most, as part of an overall £100million fund-raising effort.

Ellie Orton, the NHSCT’s chief executive, said she could not understand the criticism which had come the players’ way, as her experience of footballers had been nothing but positive. “Our experience of footballers has always been absolutely fantastic - they have always really supported charities,” she told the PA news agency. “They have worked with NHS charities near their clubs, and that is through donations but also with teams going in and visiting young people and lifting morale.” Orton said £30m of the £100m target had been raised since the Covid-19 urgent appeal was launched two and a half weeks ago, and expected the footballers being on board would be “a real boost” in reaching it. The joint statement from #PlayersTogether said the players were partnering with NHSCT “in order to assist them in generating and distributing funds quickly and efficiently to where they are needed most.”