Doncaster footballer Danny Rose's £19,000 donation pays for NHS day out at wildlife park

The England ace, who now plays for Watford, made a significant donation to Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to help staff in the fight against Covid during the first lockdown.

Last month Yorkshire Wildlife Park closed its gates to the public to host a private ‘thank you’ day for NHS staff from Doncaster.

Now the NHS trust has revealed that Rose’s donation was part of the reason that NHS staff could have a celebration day.

The trust wrote on Facebook: “One of the reasons why we were able to take to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park as a team was due to the incredible generosity of footballer, Danny Rose.

“The Donny lad donated £19,000 in April 2020 to our trust charity as the first wave of Covid-19 began to bite, to be used for the benefit of staff. It was an amazing gesture and one we will not forget - a big thank you to Danny, who is an absolute credit to this town as well as his family and friends.”

Staff at various Doncaster hospitals, along with their families and loved ones, had exclusive access to the 175 acre park to have a day of peace after staff tackled with the hardships brought from the pandemic.

Richard Parker OBE, chief executive of the trust, said: “Over the past 18 months, every single member of Team DBTH has worked tirelessly to adapt to new ways of working which has allowed us to continue to care for patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A large number of them have also spent a lot of time away from their families and they themselves have had to deal courageously with additional worries and anxieties of having a loved one fighting this disease on the frontline.

“We want to recognise these truly heroic contributions during the pandemic, and we thought the Yorkshire Wildlife Park provided the perfect opportunity for this.

The DBTH charity added that Rose’s donation funded “a large proportion of the events”.