A community-minded group of Wolves supporters who are part of the Fan Volunteer Group got quizzical to support former goalkeeper Carl Ikeme and the Race Against Blood Cancer charity.
The group held a quiz night which raised a fantastic £1748.85 which will support RABC in their mission to increase the number of potential donors to help people with blood cancer.
The Wolves fans wanted to support Ikeme not just thanks to watching him make over 200 first team appearances for Wolves, but also having been inspired by his response to being diagnosed with leukaemia back in 2017.
“We all loved watching Carl play and have also been inspired by his work with different charities so wanted to support him in whatever way we could,” says Ellen Rudge, part of the Fan Volunteer Group.
“As well as the volunteering we do on a matchday – flying the flags and helping with fan displays – we meet up every now and again and decided we wanted to hold an event to raise some funds.
“We had great support from other fans and local businesses, and Wolves donated a signed shirt, and we are really pleased to have raised the amount we did for Carl’s chosen charity.”
Ikeme has previously supported Race Against Blood Cancer on a ‘donor drive’ at Molineux, helping promote their overall aim of increasing the number of people from minority groups, whether defined by race, ethnicity or gender, which are vastly under-represented as potential stem cell or bone marrow donors to help blood cancer patients.
“It’s a long time since I last played here at Molineux, so it’s really touching that the fans still had me in mind in doing such a great thing in supporting the community,” says Ikeme, now back leading a very active life after going into remission in 2018.
“Race Against Blood Cancer are a local charity trying to do the right thing, but, like so many, have really suffered during the pandemic, especially as they rely so heavily on seeing people not only to raise funds but to sign up donors.
“It’s great that the fans have taken the time to think about others, especially during these difficult times, and I know Race Against Blood Cancer will be really grateful for the support.”
Ellen was joined at Molineux in handing over the cheque to RABC’s Community Engagement Manager Gemma Elsmore by fellow Fan Volunteers Paul King, Bill Cronin, Stuart Foxall and Amelia Grant-King. The group would also like to thank quizmaster Nick Benton, who was unavailable for the picture.
Gemma said: “We were delighted to hear that a group of Wolves fans had chosen us to fundraise for.
“Like other small charities we rely heavily on fundraising to enable us to carry out our work of finding lifesaving stem cell donors.
“Unfortunately, Covid put a stop to all our plans in 2020 including Carl’s planned bike ride, and we are grateful to have Carl’s support and from his fans too.
“We are looking forward to the same group of fans organising a charity walk this spring for Race Against Blood Cancer and another charity.
“This will help us spread our message of increasing the diversity on the stem cell register as well as raising those all-important funds.”
PICTURE: FROM LEFT: Amelia Grant-King, Paul King, Carl Ikeme, Gemma Elsmore, Ellen Rudge, Stuart Foxall, Bill Cronin. Courtesy: Wolves FC.
