At the end of July, Aston Villa fans were feeling the doom and gloom of facing relegation, but supporters David and James were hopeful, and didn’t plan to give up the fight just yet. To put a positive spin on the outcome of their upcoming match, the football fans decided to donate £100 each to Katharine House Hospice, independently of each other.

David donated in the hopes that Villa wouldn’t be relegated, whereas James had challenged his friend Nick (a Chelsea supporter) to a wager of £100. Instead of giving each other the money, they wanted to support Katharine House as it was a local charity which had supported both of their friends and family, and the team that lost, would have to pay the price. Luckily, James (and Aston Villa) won, so Nick donated to the hospice, and James decided to donate too as he wanted to support the hospice as we were able to care for his Grandad earlier this year.

James explained that he had bet his friend Nick £100 that Aston Villa would remain in the premier league, and James suggested instead of giving the money to each other, they could donate to Katharine House.

James' Villa did remain in the league, so Nick donated and James decided that he wanted to donate too.

"We chose to donate to Katharine House as it is a great local charity and it’s one we both wanted to pick, my Grandad was cared for here earlier this year, so I wanted to support the hospice.”

Katharine House supporter and football fan David, was meant to be climbing the Manitou Springs in Colorado this coming September in support of the hospice, but unfortunately due to the current global pandemic, like most travel and events, the trip was cancelled. David wanted to fundraise for Katharine House in memory of his friend Peter’s mother, both a volunteer and a patient who was cared for by Katharine House Hospice. David didn’t want to let his travel plans stop his fundraising efforts, so he decided he would donate with the hopes that his club would remain in the premier league.

David Feeley, Aston Villa supporter, said:

“I was looking pretty gloomy like the rest of the Villa fans, so I thought if we (Villa) stay up, I’m going to donate £100 to Katharine House Hospice. I put it up on our Villa fans Facebook page to try and encourage others to do the same. I chose to support Katharine House in memory of my friend’s mum. She was cared for at Katharine House and Pete and his family always say how amazing they were to her, they have helped so many local people, and I want continue to support them in whatever way I can.”

We were delighted that our local Aston Villa fans chose to support Katharine House, and that their team stayed in the league! We couldn’t believe that these individual supporters, only days apart, donated the same amount of money for the same reason. We spoke to the team at Aston Villa as we thought they may want to hear about the positive impact the club had made on the hospice, and they were delighted that their club has been spreading positivity, in more ways than one.

Megan Gardner, Media and Communications Officer at Aston Villa, said:

“What amazing donations the three gentlemen have kindly given to your Hospice - It is heart-warming to know that by Aston Villa staying in the Premier League a great cause has been supported!”