After eight months of intensive fundraising, some £40 000 has been collected and pledged – almost halfway to the £85,000 cost of the special statue tribute to Cardiff City legend Fred Keenor.
The official launch – on April 23rd, the 83rd anniversary of Cardiff’s 1927 FA Cup Final triumph over Arsenal – provided the catalyst for a wide range of fundraising initiatives to be organised during 2010.
There has been fantastic support, in particular from ordinary fans, who have organised events to bring in funds as well as staff at Cardiff City, notably Stadium Manager Wayne Nash and Customer Services & Ticketing Manager, Julian Jenkins.
There have many highlights during 2010. Among them have been:
- More than £9,000 raised at the Ricky Tomlinson evening at the Cardiff Stadium.
- The Stand – Jonny Owen and the lads – recorded I’ll Be There with all royalties going to the statue appeal.
- A football match between rival message boards brought in more than £1,000.
- Dilwar Ali, who runs the Nahin Spice Centre in Caerphilly Road, organised a curry evening and also donated a signed shirt.
- A race night was staged at the Ninian Park pub while two Bluebird fans ran marathons in Toronto and Berlin.
- Fans donated shirts for auction as well as football programmes and books for sale.
- Individual donations have ranged from £10 to £500. Bryn Keenor, who is Fred’s only surviving child gave £100 and the grand-children of former club chairman Sir Herbert Merrett chipped in with £250.
- £1 from every ticket sold for the Deportivo La Coruna game was donated by Cardiff City.
- Bucket collections, miniature statue and pin badge sales have brought in thousands of pounds.
- Tours of Cardiff City Stadium were organised by Phil Halligue, the stadium’s health and safety officer, with all proceeds from ticket sales to appeal.
- Cardiff council has pledged £15,000.
Project manager David Craig, who is also a member of the board of Cardiff City Supporters’ Trust, said: “We are only a small band of volunteers so we do rely on support from fans organising their own fundraisers.
“The backing for the statue appeal has been fantastic and I think everyone now accepts that Fred and the rest of the 1927 team have not received the recognition their achievement deserves.
“This will be a true people’s statue because it is ordinary fans who will have given the bulk of the money – not major organisations like the Welsh Assembly Government and Welsh Rugby Union in the case of the Sir Tasker Watkins statue at the Millennium Stadium.
“We have some major fundraising events planned during 2011 and we hope that work can start creating the statue during the year.”
Miniature statues and pin badges in aid of the appeal can be bought at the Cardiff City Stadium shop or fans can make donations through the following method.
Donations to the appeal fund can be made through the Co-operative Bank:
Account name: – Fred Keenor Statue Fund or FKSF
Account no 65392368
Sort Code 08-92-99
Cheques made out to the Fred Keenor Statue Fund or FKSF can also be sent c/o CCST to PO Box 4254, Cardiff, CF14 8FD. Please add the words “Fred Keenor Appeal” on the top of the envelope.