‘Evening with Stuart Pearce’ raises over £10,000 for Blesma

7 January 2015

A team of Nottingham Forest soccer legends and World Champion boxer Carl Froch delivered a knockout evening to raise funds for a war veterans charity.

The glittering ‘An Evening with Stuart Pearce’ event raised around £10,000 for Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, the club’s charity of the season.

Forest manager Pearce was joined by John McGovern, Kenny Burns, John Robertson and John O’Hare from the back-to-back European Championship winning sides of 1979 and 1980. Four-time super middleweight Froch was another star guest at the evening held at The City Ground, on December 11.

The event was organised by Blesma supporters Keith Meakin MBE and Richard Waring with support from Mike West. A four-course dinner was followed by a presentation on the charity and a Q & A session with Pearce and McGovern.

Members and supporters from Blesma including double amputee Stuart Robinson of the RAF Regiment. The money was raised through a raffle, a silent auction and donations made for photographs with the stars.

Richard Waring, of Waring Engineering, said: “With six of the Nottingham Forest European cup winning team and Carl Froch the four times world boxing champion in attendance, everything about the night exceeded our expectations. Stuart Pearce along with Carl and the Forest Legends gave their valuable time for free not only to raise funds but also awareness for Blesma. We raised in excess of £11,000 and great thanks goes to Keith Meakin MBE and special thanks to another legend Mike West who worked extremely hard in helping organize the night and last but not least my wife Jayne for all her help and support for this fantastic event.”

There will be more fundraising events at Nottingham Forest as the season progresses.

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless service men and women, their widows and dependants. It was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932.

Images can be downloaded from the links below:

Blesma Member Stuart Robinson with Stuart Pearce: /media/246422/JMSL8674-small.jpg

John McGovern and Stuart Pearce: /media/246423/ex-Forest-captain-John-MCgovern-left-hosted-the-QplusA-evening-at-Forest-Stuart-Peace-l-.jpg

Stuart Pearce and Carl Froch: /media/246424/Forest-manager-Stuart-pearce-l-with-World-Boxing-Champion-Carl-Froch.jpg

Blesma beneficiaries and supporters with Stuart Pearce: /media/246425/JMSL8861-small.jpg

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