Mother’s Day cards a winner for fans
Sunderland fans can tell their ma they won’t be home for tea in style this Mother’s Day.
Almost 40,000 Black Cats supporters will descend on Wembley for this year’s Checkatrade Trophy final on Sunday, March 31.
But that means a lot of mums will be left behind on Wearside for Mother’s Day.
Now, a club supporters’ organisation has come up with the perfect way for absentee fans to make it up to their mams – and raise some money for a worthy cause in the process.
Fan engagement group Wear The People has launched a special Wembley card which reads Happy Mother’s Day, sorry I’m not there ...I’m on Wembley Way! Ha’way the Lads”.
The cards even features an image of the Checkatrade Trophy itself, used as a vase for a bouquet.
A percentage of the proceeds will go to community interest group Sports And Armed Forces Community Action Group, launched in 2018 to produce bespoke projects to better the lives of former sports players and veterans who have fallen on hard times.
Wear the People’s Nicola Ward said the cards had started out as a tongue-incheek idea, but she had been amazed by how quickly the idea had taken off.
“It was just a bit of a joke at first, thinking about all the sons and daughters going off to Wembley and the mums bein left at home,” said Nicola, a member of Emirates groundstaff at Newcastle Airport.
“We thought maybe we could do a card and raise some money for a good cause.
“It has been really popular – we did not expect it to be as popular as it has.
“We have already sold about 500 of them.
“We put it on the Wear the People page online and it has really taken off.
“Everybody has been tagging each other in and sharing it on their feeds.
“My partner is ex-military and he is very interested in helping veterans.
“We’re not sure how much we will have raised, but we are keeping the cards on sale until March 24, so we will know soon after that.”
Ironically, Nicola won’t need one of the cards herself.
Dad Walker and partner Mal Robinson are off to Wembley, but 10-yearold son Isaac doesn’t have a ticket.
Cards are available from the Wear The People site at https://www.wearthepeople.biz/apps/webstore/ products/show/7961295.
“We thought maybe we could do a card and raise money” NICOLA WARD