By James Wynn
Leicester City goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has made a £20,000 donation to Leicestershire’s branch of Age UK.
It emerged that Schmeichel, 33, had made the donation because of a tweet from the charity.
Age UK’s Leicestershire & Rutland branch recently launched a campaign to help elderly and vulnerable people throughout the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The amazing @kschmeichel1 has donated a huge £20,000 to our #LeicsCovidCare campaign to buy care packages, phone calls and home visits to keep older people safe and well,” the branch said.
Schmeichel replied to the tweet, saying: “Now more than ever charities like @age_uk need our help.”
“Let’s do all we can to protect our elderly.”
Age UK finalised their tweet thanking Schmeichel by saying: “Please join him to keep older people safe and well by donating.”
With the rapid spread of coronavirus this month, over-70s are being encouraged to remain at home and avoid unnecessary contact with people for 12 weeks.
The City Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, said on Thursday (March 19) that the city had had five confirmed cases of the virus, and admitted the number was probably much higher due to the lack of testing equipment available.
The elderly are at the highest risk of the virus, with most of the 144 people to die due to the virus in the UK being over 70.
Schmeichel himself has had close contact with the virus, after it emerged last week that three Leicester City players were self-isolating after showing symptoms of the virus.
Football has been suspended across the UK and the Foxes will not return to action until April 30 at the earliest.
