Everton legend Duncan Ferguson has donated a further £20,000 of his testimonial proceeds to the club’s Community charity.
The 44-year-old Scot is now a first-team coach with the Blues and celebrated his time on Merseyside with a testimonial fixture against Spanish side Villarreal last summer.
Proceeds from the well-supported event, which the Blues lost 2-1, have already gone towards purchasing a Variety Club of Great Britain Sunshine Coach for the charity.
And after Ferguson handed over a £20,000 cheque to Everton in the Community staff at surprise visit to one of the charity’s programmes in Kensington, the total donated by the testimonial fund to the club’s official charity hit an impressive £65,000.
Speaking to reporters from the community scheme, the Blues icon chose to highlight the “fantastic work” done by EITC in the Merseyside region.
He said: “All thanks to the Everton fans and the testimonial committee – we’ve donated altogether £65,000 to Everton in the Community and there have been other donations (to additional charities) as well.
“Everton in the Community has won awards after awards, so all credit to the team there. They do some fantastic work and if I can support them in any way I can – even if it’s a small part – I love to do that.
“I’ve really enjoyed my testimonial year. It was a fantastic match (against Villarreal) and a lot of the function events have been run very professionally by Ray Parr and Lorraine Whitaker from the Testimonial Committee. We’ve raised a lot of money of a lot of worthwhile causes across the region.
“I’ve always felt like a big part of the community and tried to help where I can.
“I’ve spent a bit of time with the kids to try and encourage them to stay healthy and fit, to keep on taking up sport.
“It was great to see so many Evertonians. There were a few Reds as well! I really enjoyed my day.”