A FUNDRAISING appeal set up by the children of a hospital nurse has been given a big helping hand by AFC Bournemouth’s Andrew Surman.

Charlie Creighton, aged nine, and sister Mollie, aged seven, wanted to support Southampton Hospital, having known about the heroic efforts of staff through their mum Amy, who works as a specialist nurse in the blood and marrow transplant team.

Following last Thursday’s #clapforourcarers, they set up their ‘Guess who is who’ fundraising page for the hospital’s charity, with a target of £150.

However, by the start of this week, they had emphatically smashed through this goal thanks to a £10,000 donation by the Cherries midfielder.

The former Saints talent, who lives in Hampshire, took the decision with his wife Laura to give the substantial contribution towards a charity they had a connection with.

He told the Daily Echo: “My wife’s friend is a specialist nurse and she sent us the fundraising page her children were doing.

“We were looking to make a donation but we were not quite sure where to put it. It came up and seemed like a good idea.

“We have had quite a lot of contact with the hospital. My grandad had treatment there, my wife’s gran had treatment there and my wife’s best friend passed away from cystic fibrosis and she had all her care there.

“I think coronavirus has made people realise how much the NHS actually do on a day-to-day basis without this crisis.

“It is something that is personal to us, which is what we were looking for.”

Amy has known Laura, who trained as a nurse, for around 15 years having studied to university with her.

She said the donation from the couple was “amazing” and the thoughtfulness of her children to set up the fundraiser had left her very proud and overwhelmed.

“They know how hard hospital staff work,” said Amy.

“We were out last Thursday doing the 8pm clap for the NHS and Charlie headed back indoors and said he wanted do some drawings that could go online and people could donate a £1 to guess what they were, with that money going to the charity at the hospital.

“I set up a justgiving page and people were donating £10 and £20 at a time and on Saturday afternoon I went to check the page and noticed Andrew Surman had donated £10,000, which was just amazing.

“The sum of money raised is huge and it will go so far.

“We have decided the money will go to the leukaemia and transplant service, so it will go directly to the staff and patients.

“Funding is hugely important. Patients that are having donor stem cell transplants are in hospital for six to eight weeks and their follow up care is lifelong and it is life-changing for them.

“The money can go to help them not only when they are in hospital but also help us to support them once they leave with simple things as they can’t work for 18 months after their transplant.”

On the kind gesture from the Premier League ace, she added: “Some of the stick footballers have been getting is unfair and it definitely doesn’t apply to all of them,” said Amy.

“Laura and Andrew sent me a message saying they wanted to do their bit and help in anyway they could.”

To find out more about the fundraiser and to donate, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/covid19-creightons