A fundraiser has been organised in Christian Atsu’s memory by charity Arms Around the Child, for whom he was an ambassador.
The ex-Everton player was found dead under the rubble of his home following the earthquake in Turkey on 6th February.
The fundraiser will raise money for a project Atsu was working on, to build a school in Ghana, his home country.
The campaign was launched in 2018 with a fundraising event called Black Star Gala, with the aim to raise funds for the school build.
The fundraiser was successful, and the first stages of the project were able to begin.
Work on the foundations of the building began in 2019, but work was halted in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Building resumed once again in 2021.
The school is now almost complete, with Arms Around the Child hoping the fundraiser in Atsu’s memory will raise funds to see out the remainder of the project.
Gaynor Fascione, organiser of the fundraiser on behalf of Arms Around the Child, said in a statement: “I have worked with Christian Atsu since 2014, and one of the things I helped him do was develop his philanthropic endeavours.
“Christian had a dream to build a school in Ghana to benefit orphaned children and other children in the community of Senya Beraku.
“He has been the main benefactor of this school build so far and we are very close to completing it.
“It’s very important to me and many of Christian’s family and close friends, that we complete this project for him and continue his legacy of trying to help those less fortunate than himself.”
The fundraiser has raised £4,810 of their £40,000 target so far, with 90 donors contributing to the cause.
You can read Mr Fascione’s full statement and donate to the project here.
(Featured image by Илья Хохлов under creative commons licence)
