A CHARITY which uses the power of football to transform lives throughout Sussex has received a £5,000 donation from a popular pub.

Customers and staff at The Bull in Ditchling have been busy raising money for Albion In The Community since the December launch of a new long-term partnership between the charity and award-winning pub.

A discretionary donation of £2 was added to food bills throughout the festive period and funds were also raised at a busy community Christmas carol night.

Profits from ticket sales from The Bull’s new year’s eve party were also donated directly to AITC.

The total raised so far is £5,000 and, with the AITC’s regular football sessions for people with a disability costing between £2,500 and £5,000 a year to run, the donation from The Bull is a welcome boost. Supporting local good causes is something The Bull has embraced since current owner Dominic Worrall took over in 2003.

Since then the pub, which has previously been voted Great British Pub of the Year, has raised more than £60,000 for charity and staff will be looking to continue supporting AITC throughout 2019.

Mr Worrall, who recently visited AITC at the American Express Community Stadium with The Bull’s general manager Molly Raftery to find out more about the charity’s work, said: “We’re overwhelmed by the support given to this fundraising initiative by our customers and so proud of our amazing team for getting behind it and helping us to reach this fantastic total.

“AITC has been very supportive and the work it does using football as a force for good for so many people across Sussex has inspired us to keep fundraising.”

AITC now runs more than 30 sessions for people with a disability, and also provides free weekly football and mentoring to young people living in areas of deprivation.

The charity worked with more than 40,000 people in 2018.

Email fundraising@albioninthecommunity.org.uk to find out more.