BRADFORD CITY AFC

City's players have brought a bit of early festive cheer to the local community this Friday by making a donation to a Bradford children's charity.

Skipper Gary Jones and his fellow Bantams are donating their match appearance fees from last month's F.A Cup First Round tie at Rotherham United to Bradford Hospital's Children's Charity.

The charity helps to enhance the current facilities on offer at the Bradford Royal Infirmary's three children's wards, the neonatal unit, the community teams, St Luke's Outpatients and Child Development Centre.

The charity's main administrator, Jane Campbell and her son Thomas, 7, were on hand at the club's Apperley Bridge training ground this Friday afternoon to collect a cheque for over £2,000 from Jones and team-mates, Stephen Darby, Kyel Reid and Jon McLaughlin.


Upon receiving the cheque, Jane told www.bradfordcityfc.co.uk: "As a charity, we are there to try and make the lives of young children using the hospital as comfortable as possible and, if they do have to stay over, make it more bearable.

"Especially at this time of year, Christmas can be quite a grim period for children to be spending it in hospital. Any new toys and games we can bring in hopefully helps to make the children using the hospital a little happier.

"The money the club has kindly donated to us will help us to buy lots more new toys and games for the children.

"We were delighted when the club contacted us out of the blue to make the donation - it was a very nice surprise. I am sure there will be lots of children benefiting from this money who will be Bradford (City) fans as well".

City captain Jones added: "As a group, we didn't feel that our performance at Rotherham merited our appearance money. With Children in Need just past and Christmas on the way, we felt it would be nice to help a children's charity in the local area instead.

"There are a lot of kids who sadly are not as fortunate as others and have to spend this time of year in hospital. They can't quite enjoy the same happiness that other kids do at Christmas.

"With the little bit of money we have given, it can hopefully go to help in some small way to make their Christmases as good as possible.

"Christmas is a time for giving and it is only right that we gave this money to a good cause."

Fans can find out more about Bradford Hospital's Children's Charity by clicking on the link  HERE.