“Tony would have loved it” Charity ball supports MND

A charity ball held in memory of footballer Tony Hopper and attended by more than 200 friends, family and former team mates, raised £20,000 for the MND Association.

The evening was a fitting tribute to the popular Carlisle United and Workington Reds footballer who did so much to raise awareness and funds through his MND

Association Fightback Fund, before his death in 2018.

Event host Ian Milburn from IM Events said: “The total was sitting at just under £17,500, but we got another donation on the night to take it up to £20,000. That’s well past expectations. It’s a brilliant amount of money that will hopefully make a good bit of difference.”

Ian thanked Tony’s wife Sue, for her tireless efforts in organising the night and arranging raffle prizes. He said: “Sue was absolutely amazing from minute one, when we made the decision to do this. She’s worked so hard and got some amazing raffle prizes. I can’t stress enough how amazing she has been.

“Sue did a speech at the start of the night, where she talked about their time as a family, the ‘Hoppy’ memories they made, with a couple of videos. It really tugged at the heartstrings. The only disappointing thing was Tony wasn’t there himself – he would have absolutely loved it. He was in everyone’s thoughts throughout, as he always will be.”

In May, more money was raised in Tony’s honour when a group of his friends and family took part in the Rob Burrow Marathon in Leeds.

The only disappointing thing was Tony wasn’t there himself – he would have absolutely loved it. He was in everyone’s thoughts throughout, as he always will be.