SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Betfred’s appeal to help fund the Royal Manchester Hospital £4 million appeal for vital equipment has reached its halfway point, with Fred Done donating all profits made from all over-the-counter bets during the Cheltenham Festival to the iMRI appeal.
On the first day of the festival, which is said to traditionally be one of the busiest days in the racing calendar, Done donated £1.25m to the appeal. The profits were also helped by the match between Manchester City and Schalke in the Champions League that evening.
The Bookies reaped the rewards on Tuesday at Cheltenham, with hardly any favourites winning at the Festival. It was good news for the appeal after Done visited the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to deliver the much-bigger-than-expected donation.
The appeal, which will fund state-of-the-art intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (iMRI) equipment, will be used to help children from across the North West region being treated for debilitating and life-threatening conditions such as brain tumours, traumatic brain injuries and problems with the central nervous system and epilepsy.
The appeal has hit home for Done, who lost his wife following a cancer diagnosis. His donation will provide a major, much-needed boost to purchase the iMRI scanner.
The scanner will be based at Royal Manchester Hospital, and will transform brain surgery for some of the 270,000 children treated there.
Betfred boss Fred Done said: “It is truly humbling that I have been able to help with this appeal for much-needed equipment. I think Mo had a word with God telling him to give some help to the children. There could not have been a better result for the scanner appeal than the Cheltenham Festival on Tuesday.
“From my own sad experience, I know how important it is to have world-class equipment available to help save the lives of your loved ones. The new scanner will save the lives of seriously ill children brought to Manchester from all over the country and that is a fitting tribute to Mo’s memory. I feel privileged that I have been able to help.”
Kathy Cowell OBE DL, Chairman of Manchester Foundation Trust, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to Fred Done for his commitment to our cause. This staggering donation will make a huge difference to this life saving and life changing Appeal taking us to the half way stage of the money we so desperately need. We cannot thank Fred enough for his support.”
For Day One of the Cheltenham Festival Fred pledged all over the counter profit from our 1630 shops to the Children’s Brain Scanner Appeal.
Today we unveiled the cheque.#CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/WIxQ9mZmXX
— Betfred (@Betfred) March 15, 2019
