A GLITZY black tie ball to raise funds for Bromsgrove charity Libby Mae’s Little Angels was made that extra bit more special when England footballer Michail Antonio walked in wearing a tracksuit and trainers with a signed shirt for the auction.
The West Ham star had promised Charlotte and Richard Sharratt he would provide one for the charity and had driven more than 200 miles after his side’s Premier League clash with Middlesbrough in London to hand over the claret and blue shirt at the swanky MacDonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham.
After posing for a couple of photographs and briefly meeting some of the ball’s 200 guests, he set off to see partner Debbie and the couple’s three children for the weekend.
Charlotte said: “We could see everyone looking as a guy in a tracksuit made his way across the ballroom.
“It took a few minutes to realise it was Michail and it was an absolutely brilliant surprise.
“I couldn’t believe he’d travelled out of his way to give us the shirt.”
Michail said: “I was going to post it to Richard but hadn’t had chance and knew they wanted it for the auction that night so I thought I’d drop it off after the game.
“I left the stadium and dropped into the hotel before carrying on up to see my family up north.
“It really wasn’t a problem and I was glad I made it before the auction started.”
Richard said the couple had been friends with Michail and his partner Debbie through fellow footballer and charity ambassador Chris Burke.
The pair had played together at Nottingham Forest.
The shirt went for £200 and the gesture did not go unnoticed with fans on social media full of praise for the footballer for going out of his way for charity.
Tim WHU Fan Dine tweeted: “Fair play to him – not many would do that. Proud that he’s a Hammer – what a guy!”
Jamprouk on Twitter said “It’s just fantastic that @michailantonio personally drove to drop off his signed shirt for #LMABall2016”
As well as Antonio, other famous faces graced the evening including reality TV star Dawn Ward of Real Housewives of Cheshire who was so moved by the charity she donated a private dining experience at her home with fellow cast members which raised £3,000.
By the end of the night, £17,000 was raised for the charity which was set up by Richard and Charlotte in 2013 in memory of their baby daughter Libby Mae who tragically died at just two weeks due to heart complications.
Since then they have been raising funds for neo-natal units across the Midlands and have amassed more than £150,000 for the cause.
Visit http://www.libbymaeslittleangels.com/ for more information.
