Neville Donates $32k To Deaf Football Teams

Gary Neville donated $32,000 (£20,000) to Great Britain's Deaf Football team to send the squad to the Deaflympics.

LONDON, UK -- Daily Mail: Gary Neville has paid £20,000 out of his own pocket to book Great Britain's Deaf Football squads their places at the Deaflympics.

GB Deaf Football do not receive public funding and made an appeal for financial assistance last month as they tried to put together enough money for the deposit which would guarantee their spot at next year's event in Samsun, Turkey.

The organisation needed to raise £17,750 before December 1 but what appeared to be a tough task melted away when Manchester United legend Neville stumped up the whole lot, with interest, after being alerted to the cause on Twitter.

Responding to a tweet from United fan Jimmy McBride to the Premier League and Football Association asking for their support, Neville wrote on Sunday: 'I will do it if they won't'.

And he has followed through on his promise, with GB Deaf Football posting a screenshot of their justgiving website on Wednesday which showed the Sky Sports pundit's donation had landed in their account.

They wrote: 'It's official. Thank you @GNev2 for donating £20,000 to send us to the Deaflympics 2017.'

It's official. Thank you @GNev2 for donating £20,000 to send us to the Deaflympics 2017. Just £105k to go ⚽️🇬🇧🏅https://t.co/oO5fBehvW5 pic.twitter.com/9FfD7ElxJN

— GB Deaf Football (@GB_DeafFootball) November 2, 2016

GB Deaf Football need to lay on training sessions and warm-up matches in their preparations for the Deaflympics, as well as finding funds for flights, hotels and physiotherapy.

While Neville has paid for the deposit, the group still need to secure a further £105,000 to ensure both men's and women's squads can take part next summer.

Neville is the second leading football personality to make an important pledge to British Deaf Football in the space of 12 months.

In 2015, Jack Butland made a £5,000 donation to help send the women's team to this year's World Cup.

At the time, Butland said: 'I've learnt a lot from major tournaments, experiences I'll never forget, I'd love for you to experience the same.'

SOURCE

Related Samsun 2017 Deaflympics:
Samsun 2017 - The 23rd Summer Deaflympics
Deaflympics Begin In Samsun Despite Turkey's Failed Military Coup Attempt
Neville Donates $32k To Deaf Football Teams

Related Posts: #Deaflympics

Helen Keller's Beloved Climbing Tree Cut Down

Deaf News: Cut down a popular 200-year-old oak tree at the Alabama childhood home of Helen Keller.

TUSCUMBIA, AL -- Section by section, the sprawling water oak plummeted Monday onto the grounds of Ivy Green at the hands of a whirring chainsaw.

Sue Pilkilton, executive director of Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller, watched the tree’s presence in the front yard dwindle.

“Isn’t that the saddest thing?” Pilkilton lamented. “We have tried for years to save that tree.”

Having stood for more than 200 years, the tree had particular significance in Keller’s young life. She enjoyed climbing it as a child, and once became stranded there in the midst of a storm until her teacher, Anne Sullivan, came to her rescue, Pilkilton said.

“Miss Sullivan had to climb up there and get her,” she said.

Members of the board that oversees the historic tourist attraction had no alternative but to order the tree removed. A look inside its trunk revealed why. It was hollowed from years of decay and insect infestation.

In July, part of the tree fell during a storm that packed an EF1 tornado...

Read The Full Story.