Football based charity that raises money for visually impaired nets donation from kind hearted building society

Bosses at the West Bromwich Building Society have donated £500 to the JW Hunt Cup committee, which raises money each year for the Sedgley based Beacon Centre for the blind.

The cup – with a final traditionally held at Molineux – is played for every year by semi-professional sides in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and the Black Country, with proceeds from the games going into the fund.

But the committee also relies on donations to try and reach their ultimate target of raising half-a-million by the cup's centenary in 2026.

The money from the building society came from their grant scheme the Mercian Community Trust which helps charities and community groups across the West Midlands and is administered in partnership with the Diocese of Lichfield

The JW Hunt Cup has a small committee, but one of them is Alex Hamill MBE from Wolverhampton who refereed on every league ground in a career spanning over 35 years in the professional game and 50 including the Wolverhampton leagues. He was given his award by the then Prince Charles for services to football and the visually impaired.

He was on hand at the West Bromwich's Wolverhampton office in the city centre to receive the cheque along with long standing committee member Sylvia Enefer.

She said: "We are extremely grateful to the West Bromwich and all who donate to the work we do to raise money for the visually impaired.

"Committee members put money in as well so it is a joint effort between us, donations and money raised from the prestigious cup competition which is one of the longest running, if not the longest in the country and attracts teams from across the area."