THE Finlay Cooper Fund, a charity set up in the memory of the son of Colin Cooper, the current Hartlepool United manager, has been boosted by cheque from The Northern Echo.

At the recent Local Heroes Awards, a collection for the fund raised £500 and Mr Cooper was presented with the donation last week.

The Fund, set up in 2006 following the death of Mr Cooper’s son, makes donations to children’s charities throughout the North-East and Mr Cooper said: “It’s amazing, I’m really humbled. More and more third parties are raising money for the Finlay Cooper Fund, we have been on our feet for seven years now.

“We aren’t the biggest charity, but we have done alright and £350,000 raised in that time is amazing. Any contribution is a valuable one.

“The one thing we don’t have is overheads, so every penny coming in, it goes back out to be used in a really, really exciting way.

“To get £500 from the Local Heroes Awards is brilliant. It’s a real honour that The Northern Echo chose the Fund.

“We are seeing people wanting to do something in their own way and it’s humbling. It was an honour to be a guest at the Awards, it was a cracking night.

“It was an inspirational evening and people who were there were very generous – we can only thank them and The Northern Echo from the bottom of our hearts.’’