An online campaign to say thank you to the unlikely hero of this year’s Uppies and Downies games in Workington has raised £1,000.
Sixteen-year-old Alan Hall, a student of Lakes College at Lillyhall, caught people’s imagination after we met him at the traditional Easter mass no-rules football games.
He was collecting cans so he could recycle them and earn a little bit of pocket money as he was bored during the Easter holidays.
Uppies and Downies is held every Easter and three games are played – on Good Friday, Easter Tuesday and the following Saturday.
He was out at every game – including the Tuesday match, which was in monsoon conditions.
After we reported this, people were outraged that he was only getting 6p a can and praised him for being a credit to the town.
Minutes after the game ended, Stacey Anderson set up a Go Fund Me donation page for Alan.
She said: “Let’s come together to raise some well earned pocket money for Alan to say a massive thank you for the amazing clean up job he’s been doing at every Uppies and Downies game this year. Mess he doesn’t need to clean… a true inspiration to the younger generation!”
She set a £200 target and this morning, the fund stands at £1,000.
