Bid for a signed For Bradley Sunderland AFC shirt to help trio of charities

Bradley Brown with his dad Ian at Hylton Castle, which will benefit from the fundraising.

This weekend’s auction will cap off a series of fundraising activities by the city’s martial arts community which has raised more than £3,700.

The highlight of the charity efforts was a recent combat sports event called The Silent Trumpet 2018 which was held at The Point in Holmeside.

The shirt is a special edition For Bradley shirt

Hosted by Spartan Gym, it included a number of boxing, kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) bouts, including a gruelling 10 Man Kumite in which one fighter takes on 10 opponents, one after another for one minute each with no rest between fights.

The show was stolen by 13-year-old Bradley Brown from Murton who successfully completed a 20 Man Kumite against a combination of boxing, K1 and kickboxing opponents, some of whom had travelled from as far as Rotherham to take on Spartan Gym’s multiple world championships gold medallist.

Three good causes will benefit from the fundraising. One of the beneficiaries is I’m In For Will, which is raising money to go towards a family holiday or specialist equipment for five-year-old Will Calvert, who suffers from genetic disorder Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Animal rescue charity All Because of Freda will also benefit, as will the Hylton Castle Project, which is seeking to restore Hylton Castle.

And now organisers of the fundraising hope the silent auction for the signed special edition home shirt, created in honour of inspirational Bradley Lowery to raise money for a holiday home for sick children and their families, will push the funds over the £4,000 mark.

Paul Grieves, from Spartan Gym in Hylton Castle, who kicked off fundraising at the Boxing Day Dip, said: “I’d personally like to thank all the coaches, fighters and supporters of Spartan Gym, Roker Rough House, Spartan Armageddon, Kuei Ling Martial Arts, Spartan Seaham, Unity Durham, Spartan MMA and Dragon Foot Kickboxing and everyone else involved in the events who gave their time for free.

“I’m quite frankly amazed by the amount of effort and support that everyone has put into this venture and humbled by the generosity of the North East people.”

•You can bid for the SAFC shirt by texting Paul Grieves on 07971467989 or inboxing him on Facebook messenger. Bidding will close

on Monday.