Last month Oxford United asked supporters to submit their nominations for fans who have gone above and beyond in recent months to win a match edition Poppy Shirt signed by the first team squad.
We were overwhelmed with over 350 responses and we caught up with the winners to hear their stories and surprise our three winners with a special guest…
Our first Poppy Shirt winner is Oxford United supporter Laura Sanders, an NHS nurse who used up her annual leave to cycle from Abingdon to Edinburgh last September, helping raise thousands of pounds for the charity Dreamflight.
Laura told us:
“The idea came about initially from my friend, Connie. Dreamflight are a charity who take a chartered plane to Florida and take children with life-limiting illnesses with a full supportive team of nurses, carers and doctors, so it’s a fully funded trip. Connie was due to go on this trip but due to the pandemic the trip was cancelled. I rather naively suggested that we cycle the length of Florida not thinking just how far that would be and it transpired to work out about from Abingdon to Edinburgh.”
Raising over £5,500 in doing so we were amazed by Laura’s efforts, so we organised a special surprise from striker Matty Taylor who joined us on a call with Laura to recognise the incredible work she has done over the last year and to send his thanks for her efforts.
You can see the full video and watch Laura’s reaction to her surprise by watching the video here:
If you were inspired by Laura’s achievements, you can also donate to Dreamflight by clicking HERE