The Bluebirds Trust have donated almost £3,000 to Brad Barry’s Go Fund Me page for Lewis Hardcastle after a weekend of bumper sales for Russ’ Raffle.
Plans were announced to donate the proceeds from Saturday’s half time draw from the game at Stevenage to the appeal for Hardcastle, after he was forced to retire on medical grounds last week.
And Bluebirds supporters responded in their numbers, snapping up a record-breaking 5,534 tickets for the popular virtual draw which takes place at every game (click here for more information).
Those remarkable sales figures meant that lucky winner, Alan Johnson, walked away with a cool £2,767 in prize money – but, more importantly, the same amount was donated to the Hardcastle fund.
"We were saddened by the news that Lewis was having to retire and we wanted to help in anyway we could," explained Trust Chairman, Frazer Stewart.
"Russ' Raffle has been extremely popular since we started it a year ago with over 80,000 tickets sold and it was the perfect way we could show our support for Lewis.
"We had an unbelievable response from the fans, smashing all previous records and selling over 5,500 tickets which meant we could donate over £2700 to Lewis.
"He always gave his all on the pitch and was a key driving force in getting us back to the Football League - and the fans really showed what that meant to them.
"We wish Lewis all the best in whatever he does next and he'll always be welcome at Holker Street!"
The huge donation means that Barry’s Go Fund Me page has now moved within £500 of its original target of £10,000 just three days after its launch.