Gosport Borough on course to reach £6,000 target to help feed the needy – thanks to the efforts of the club’s youngsters

Gosport under-11 Black team raised £300 for the club's 'Feed A Family' fund

Gosport Borough are on course to reach their £6,000 Crowdfunding target to ensure they carry on helping the vulnerable during the pandemic.

The Southern League set up the online donation page - titled ‘Feed a Family in Need with the Boro' - on April 20 with a view to raising £2,500 to buy food to deliver to those in their community struggling during life in lockdown.

That was quickly reached, so a new target was set at £6,000.

As of this morning, the total was £5,182 but youth teams at the club are set to donate £745 - taking the total to £5,927.

Gosport under-10 Reds have raised £300 for the club's 'Feed A Family' fund

The club’s under-10 Reds side raised £300, and the under-8 Grey team and their parents donated £100.

On top of that, the club’s under-11 Black team raised £300 doing a ‘keepy uppy’ challenge and this was donated directly to the feed a family fund.

One squad member, Jimi Webb, raised an additional £250 as a result of shaving his hair off.

Chris Webb, who coaches the under-11 Blacks, is also in charge of the Gosport & Fareham district under-11 side. That squad have also raised £100 towards Borough’s fund via a ‘keepy up’ challenge.

Gosport & Fareham's under-11 district side who raised money for Gosport Borough FC's 'Feed A Family' fund

Gosport’s Crowdfunder, therefore, has been a real club effort - within days of it going live, first team boss Lee Molyneaux and many of his squad had pledged cash.

Elsewhere, Wessex Funeral Services have pledged £250, John Ridley £200, Terry Hannam £130 and Dean Perry, Richard Coulbert, Kate Davis and Jeremy Fox £100 each.

The News have previously reported an anonymous donation of £555.

‘The community has really bought into it, it’s been amazing,’ said Webb, who has been down at Privett Park most days helping deliver food parcels.

Gosport's under-8 Grey team donated £100 to the 'Feed A Family' fund

He also goes around picking up donations - be it food or other items such as egg boxes.

Webb added: ‘We’ve had people ring up and say they were going out to do a shop, they were happy to chuck another £20 on top for us and what did we need?

‘One young girl raised £7 from selling books outside her house, her dad raised it to a tenner and she’s going to do a £10 shop for us.

‘The community has been brilliant, it’s been non-stop.’