AN EIGHT-year-old Middlesbrough fan has put a smile on the face of football mad Ghanaian boy after gifting one of the club's shirts to him.
Liam Vickers, who goes to Links Primary School in Eaglescliffe, sent the shirt with the help of his father Paul and the charity New Life Ghana.
On Tuesday, the red and white kit reached young Henry Okine, who made a short video thanking Liam for the gift and wishing Boro well in the Premier League.
Liam with Boro star Albert Adomah
"New Life Ghana is a charitable project committed to the physical and spiritual welfare of orphaned, needy and destitute children in Ghana," said Mr Vickers. "It supports the work of Pastor Osmond Osei Owusu in a rural area of Ghana, west of the capital Accra.
"The project contributes towards the cost of a children's home and a school for children aged two to 17 years through a child sponsorship programme, regular giving and through team visits.
"We currently have over 80 children sponsored. For sponsoring a child up to leaving Junior High School we ask for a monthly gift of £15, although some people are able to give more and others less.
"Last year, we had ten children moving up to Senior High School to continue their education. The costs for this next stage are greatly increased, so we ask for £30 a month, again with some giving more and others less.
Liam with Pastor Osmond
"The children are of various ages when they move up to Senior High School as some children start school late, some could be eight, nine or ten. There is an array of different ages of children in each class as it is based on ability rather than age."
It is hoped the funds will help provide a new school minibus, extra support for the students attending Senior High School
and ultimately buy land to enable the building of a Senior High School.
"This year myself and my wife have been privileged to be introduced to Pastor Osmond, Fundraising Coordinator Marilyn Bell and her team," said Mr Vickers.
"They inspired us with their passion for the charity and we wanted to get our children involved. We recently attended a charity event and immediately saw that the children in Ghana are so inspiring.
"We thought this was an ideal chance to help our children realise that not all children lead a privileged life.
"Our son, Liam, is a season ticket holder at Middlesbrough with us, his uncle and grandad, and identified immediately that Boro player, Albert Adomah, was of Ghanaian origin."
Mr Vickers said his son decided that he wanted to write a letter to a child in Ghana, detailing what his life was like in England and also send a Boro shirt along with a photograph of himself with star player Adomah.
"Pastor Osmond returned to Ghana on Tuesday and immediately sought out Henry Okine who lives in the Home of Hope to give him the football shirt, photo and letter kindly donated by Liam," said Mr Vickers. "Today Pastor Osmond sent photos and a short video of Henry. Henry loves football and was very excited to receive Liam’s gift.
"In the video Henry says 'Hello Liam and all Middlesbrough supporters, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, lets support them..hoorah'
"Pastor Osmond also took with him ten shirts kindly donated by Middlesbrough FC. The newly formed UTBTV online show have also kindly offered to donate a number of ‘One Of Our Own’ T-shirts to the charity in memory of the late Alistair Brownlee. Both showing great local support!"
Ms Bell will be leading a team of volunteers to Ghana in October and will see the children, including Henry in an effort to strengthen the personal connection between the boys.
For more details on the project visit www.newlifeghana.co.uk or find them on Twitter and Facebook.
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