Express & Star

Wolves Foundation: We've lost money through pandemic just like everyone else

So many charities have lost income through a lack of fundraising events during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that includes Wolves Foundation.

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Former Wolves stars Joleon Lescott, left, and Carl Ikeme

And events of the last seven months have also put a temporary halt to an emerging link between the club and the Race Against Blood Cancer charity, who have worked closely with former Wolves goalkeeper Carl Ikeme.

Wolves staff had previously chosen Race Against Blood Cancer to become the club’s first ever chosen charity to be the focus of a year of fundraising and raising awareness in their lifesaving work to find stem cell donors for people suffering from chemotherapy-resistant blood cancers.

Carl, now in remission after coming through his own leukaemia diagnosis in 2017, had also planned a 555-mile charity bike ride taking in the clubs he represented during his career and finishing at Molineux ahead of the final home game of last season against Crystal Palace.

That was also cancelled due to the pandemic, but Carl is still planning to take on the marathon cycle when regulations allow, and Wolves staff and supporters will be encouraged to get behind him just as they did when he made over 200 appearances between the sticks back in the day.

“We worked with the club to help facilitate a staff vote for our first charity of the year, and Race Against Blood Cancer came out on top,” says head of the foundation Will Clowes.

“All the staff were really looking forward to working with the charity and getting involved in a series of fundraising events, including supporting Carl’s fantastic challenge with the bike ride, but unfortunately the pandemic meant we have been unable to do so.

“We have been in touch with Race Against Blood Cancer just to say that although everything is on hold for the moment, we will definitely be looking to offer our help and support as Wolves’ chosen charity as soon as we are able to in the future.”

The charity works particularly on trying to encourage donors from BAME communities due to a lack of ethnic diversity on the stem cell register, and has recruited an incredible 37 per cent of potential donors from minority ethnic communities, compared to the figure of just 15 per cent on the overall donor register.

'Our income has dropped substantially'

General manager Julie Child says: “As a small charity, and like many in the sector, our income has dropped substantially this year which has led to some very worrying times for us all.

“In addition, our recruitment of donors has dropped 85 per cent in comparison to last year. However, it’s really wonderful to know that we have the ongoing support of the Wolves Foundation and of course, Carl Ikeme, who has been an unstinting ambassador for the charity over the last two years.”

Which takes us neatly on to the man himself and the small matter of a 555-mile bike ride. Is he still keen?

“Absolutely,” is the response. “I was fortunate that I didn’t require a stem cell transplant during my treatment for leukaemia, but if I had, the options would have been very limited due to a lack of donors from ethnic minority backgrounds,”

“Race Against Blood Cancer is trying to change all that, and that is why I decided to take on this marathon bike ride, covering all the loan clubs I played for during my career before finishing up at Molineux.”

“It was really disappointing that we had to postpone earlier this year, but we recognise that there are people going through really tough times at the moment, and that includes people diagnosed with blood cancer.

“It is great to hear that Wolves are planning to continue their backing for Race Against Blood Cancer when everything improves, and I will definitely be getting back in the saddle to take on the cycling challenge when it is safe for us all to do so.”

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