Gloves raise £175 for cancer charities
A charity that supports breast cancer patients in Shropshire has received a £175 boost thanks to Richie Woodhall's latest auction.
A set of three gloves, signed by boxing legends "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns, and top trainer Emanuel Steward, went under the hammer at Halls in Shrewsbury to raise funds for the Pink Ribbon Trust.
The trust's treasurer, Betty Jenkinson, said she was thrilled by the news, and said the money would be put towards an appeal to buy a second biopsy machine for the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
"That is great news, we are fundraising all the time, all for the breast cancer unit at Princess Royal," she said.
"It is all done for the comfort and wellbeing of the patients, we pay for the things that the National Health Service can't afford.
"I'm really excited, that's marvellous."
Pink Ribbon breast cancer support was founded in 1994, and has raised £145,000 for hospital services in the county over that time.
In 2015, it opened a the “patient reflection room at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital, which gives breast cancer patients a quiet place to contemplate and discuss their diagnosis.
Last year it donated £15,000 to pay for a biopsy machine at the hospital, and the funds raised from the auction will go towards purchasing a second.
Former super-middleweight world champion Richie, who lives and grew up in Telford, organises regular auctions for cancer charities in memory of his father Len.
Len, who was well-known as a trainer on the Midland boxing circuit, died in 2015 after a long battle with bowel cancer.
He said as well as raising money, he was also seeking to raise the profile of the work done by cancer charities in the county.
The sale took place on Wednesday at Shrewsbury-based Halls, which is working with Richie on the sales.
