Rangers striker Jermain Defoe has donated a pair of his boots to help raise funds for a local mental health charity.
The veteran forward, who has been capped 57 times by England, made the donation to the Lounge by the Clyde’s raffle in aid of Stepping Stones - who work to help people experiencing mental health issues throughout West Dunbartonshire.
And general manager Danielle Walsh, from Bonhill, hopes that his donation will give the charity vital cash at a time where fundraising has proved challenging.
She told the Lennox Herald: “For something like Stepping Stones who are obviously based in Clydebank, it could make a massive difference.
“It gets their name out there too and we’re optimistic that this could be a big thing.
“We’d like to raise at least a grand, but with Jermain’s boots there’s no reason why we can’t get even more than that.
“We really want people to help raise money for this charity because they do some amazing things and are a small non-profit organisation.
“They need help from the local community and further out where possible and hopefully we can continue to help them in the future.”
Danielle also paid tribute to Defoe, well known for his charitable work – especially with Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery, who bravely battled terminal childhood cancer neuroblastoma until he was six. Defoe was awarded an OBE for his charity work and dedicated it to his the late Black Cats supporter Bradley.
She added: “He’s always been really good with charity work throughout his career and he’s someone who always tries to help out where he can.
“It is something that says a lot about him as a person. We’ve got loads of great prizes from a weekend’s hot tub hire to alcohol hampers and even life coach lessons.”
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