REDDITCH Blues raised around £700 following a sponsored walk on Wednesday afternoon, in aid of former-Birmingham City player Paul Devlin’s daughter – who suffers from Addison’s Disease, writes Ben Tyler.
The 13-mile walk from the Oast House on Paper Mill Drive to St Andrews was completed in five hours, just in time for kick-off before the 1-1 draw with Sheffield United.
Lynda Courts of Redditch Blues, spoke about the tribulations Devlin’s daughter Annie has had to go through during a difficult 15 months.
“Around Christmas 2017, she was very close to death, with worries that she might not pull through.
“At that moment, she was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease.
“Paul has been trying to raise money – firstly to help Annie as she deals with the condition for the rest of her life, and secondly to help fund research to find the equivalent of an epi-pen to treat the disease.
“We’ve had plenty of contact with Paul, so when we saw that he was trying to raise money for Annie, that gave us another charity we wanted to support.”
Targeting a sum of £500, Redditch Blues had already surpassed the total prior to completing the walk.
Meanwhile Devlin, has raised more than £13,000 towards his £20,000 target.
“Blues have done so much in the local community, but that doesn’t get recognised enough by the media or by the EFL,” said Courts.
“The more we can show that side of Blues, and the family club it is, the better.”
JustGiving links for both funds are available in the online version of the article at www.redditchstandard.co.uk
