Dons block charity pair's collection day
Fundraising footy fans turned away from stadium:mk
Two brothers touring football grounds all over the country collecting for Cancer Research found themselves unexpectedly offside when they came to MK Dons.
For the club refused to let the charity-minded pair collect money inside the ground during Saturday's Burnley match, saying they did not fit in with their 'charity criteria'.
A request to publicise the brother's charity appeal on the Dons' website was also refused.
Instead Richard, 35, and Robert Knowles, 34, took their collection buckets and stood outside nearby Asda.
The pair started their tour during the preliminary rounds of the FA Cup in August at Runcorn's Winsham Park.
Since then they have followed the winner of every round to collect from fans.
The campaign, called Runcorn2Wembley, has already raised 3,000 and more people can donate on www.justgiving.co.uk/Richard-Knowles.
The brothers first approached MK Dons last November, when the club played Exeter in the FA Cup draw.
Richard said: "We were surprised by the decision by MK Dons because all the other clubs we've visited have been great and allowed us to collect at their matches.
"They said we did not follow the guidelines for the type of charity they planned to supportthis season.
"They did however give us tickets to come and see both matches. We donated the value of the tickets to our collection, so all ended well."
In fact, the Asda collection totalled a bumper 450 - the largest amount the brothers have ever collected at one game.
An MK Dons spokesman said the club did a huge amount of work with charities, but received so many requests that a strict quota had to be worked out in advance.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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