Wrexham AFC joint owner Rob McElhenney has thanked a team of Welsh police officers for organising a football match to raise funds for children’s hospitals in Philadelphia and Vancouver.
The match took place on Sunday afternoon in Broughton, Flintshire, North Wales, between Wrexham Police FC, which is made up of members of North Wales Police who play off-duty and Happy Somedays, an inclusive for-all group who are based in south Manchester.
Wrexham Police FC wanted to use the game as an opportunity to “give something back” to actors McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds who have supported Wrexham in a “significant” way, so decided to raise money for both British Columbia (BC) Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as Reynolds was born in Vancouver and McElhenney hails from Philadelphia.
Sgt Dave Smith, 38, from Wrexham Police FC, told the PA news agency: “Ryan and Rob have done a great deal for Wrexham and made a significant impact on the area and made such a difference to people’s lives.
“We just wanted to do something to give something back.
“We’ve also got a lot of support from the States and Canada because of how much Ryan and Rob have supported us, so we thought it would be good to raise money for a hospital in Philadelphia and a hospital in Vancouver.”
In February, they donated £10,000 to a fundraiser in aid of the family of a four-year-old called Louis Perrin, who was born with a rare genetic variant of the TUBA1A gene which causes him to have painful leg spasms, limited mobility, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
Ahead of the match, McElhenney praised Wrexham Police FC for organising it, posting to X: “Love this. Thank you.”
“(McElhenney and Reynolds) don’t have to support us, but the fact that they do shows that despite their celebrity status, they’ve got that human side and they do generally care about the Wrexham area and really do want to help the community.”
Wrexham Police FC won on the day, but Sgt Smith said victory and the score were “irrelevant”.
Over the past 14 months, Wrexham Police FC has raised just over £43,000 for various charitable causes.
The fundraising link for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia can be found here: chop.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.personalCampaign&participantID=146958
The donations page for BC Children’s Hospital can be found here: secure.bcchf.ca/SuperheroPages/main.cfm?Event=ICE&Member=275215
