BRIGHTON and Hove Albion’s official charity has netted a £12,000 donation thanks to support from staff at Southern Co-operative’s University of Sussex store.

Albion in the Community was chosen as its charity of the year, with staff keen to raise money to support its local work.

That work includes 31 regular football sessions for people with a disability, one of which takes place at the University of Sussex, just a short distance from the Co-op’s Bramber House shop.

Staff began fundraising for the charity earlier in the year and recently responded to a challenge from Southern Co-Operative’s regional head office which encouraged stores to raise as much as they could for their individual charities over the course of a single week.

The company then put up a £10,000 donation for the branch which raised the most.

Despite Southern Co-Operative’s Charity Awareness Week taking place at a time when the majority of university students were not on campus, the Bramber House store raised £2,000 – and clinched the regional prize, taking the total donated to AITC to £12,000.

Much of the £2,000 came from a raffle with prizes donated by suppliers and other businesses.

Hannah Ward and Alan Batchelor visited the American Express Community Stadium to present AITC with the donation.

Ms Ward said her colleagues were only-to-pleased to support AITC and praised the support they in turn had received from others.

She said: “Our Southern Co-Operative store works in partnership with the University of Sussex Students’ Union and it is thanks to our hardworking student staff that we were able to make this happen.

“It was a lovely opportunity to bring the whole team together to support a cause close to their hearts.

“We were thrilled to have won the £10,000 for Albion in the Community and hope to raise even more money for this fantastic cause in the future.”

Email: fundraising@albioninthecommunity.org.uk to work with this charity.