Ireland star James McClean has been hailed for helping to keep a children's hospice in the UK afloat amid the Covid-19 crisis.
The Stoke City winger has made a number of charitable donations since the outbreak of the pandemic.
McClean, 30, made a donation last month to provide vital supplies for people in his native Derry City and also donated personal protective equipment for frontline health workers in his home county.
He was one of a number of Ireland internationals to donate €25,000 to League of Ireland players - with games currently postponed and some clubs unable to play players as a result.
It has now been reported that McClean and teammate Joe Allen donated a large sum to the Donna Louise Trust, which runs a children's hospice in Stoke-on-Trent.
The Trust's Justine Trumper told The Sun: "The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice is one of the poorest funded in the country.
"We receive less than 9 per cent of our funding from the government, the other 91 per cent we need to raise through fundraising and donations.
"But as a result of coronavirus, we’ve seen our income fall off a cliff overnight.
"Two of the very first to come to our aid, were Stoke City players James McClean and Joe Allen, who both made generous personal donations to The Donna Louise.
"It’s brilliant to see James also donating much needed Personal Protection Equipment in his home town of Derry.
"Wonderful people like James and Joe are helping to ensure that we can continue to be there for families every step of the way, and we can’t thank them enough!"
McClean recently hit out at UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock's call for footballers to take a pay cut to help in the fight against coronavirus.
Referring to his PPE donation, he said: “It’s not going to solve all the problems, but hopefully it can tide them over. It begs the question if I’m able to go online, why can’t the authorities supply enough equipment?
“It’s ridiculous. You’ve got Matt Hancock saying we should take a pay cut. No-one seems to like footballers.
“We’ve got livelihoods too and people might take this the wrong way, but we do work hard for our money.
“Think about what players pay towards the Government in tax. Football is a short career and we've got to look after our families once it’s over. I’ve seen players do great deeds from their own pocket.”
