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Bucket Collection for Beattie Statue Ahead of Sunderland Match - Ipswich Town News

Town fans can help boost the campaign raising money for a statue of Blues legend Kevin Beattie tomorrow by contributing to a collection being taken outside Portman Road ahead of the game against Sunderland.

Collectors will be around the ground with buckets in the hours before kick-off as The Beat Goes On campaign closes in on its target. There will also be a bucket in the FanZone next to the Life’s a Pitch broadcast.

Supporters Club chairman Mark Ramsay, who is also on the statue campaign committee, said: "We need around £23,000 to reach the target. If all supporters gave £1 on Saturday, we would be very close to our target - any donations and further donations would be very gratefully received.

"Kevin Beattie was the finest player to come out of our academy and remained an Ipswich Town supporter for the rest of his life. He became an adopted son of Suffolk, and it is a fitting tribute that we the fans are raising the money to fund his statue."

Since the campaign was launched, nearly £59,000 has been pledged in cash, while MC Contracts and Ridgeons are donating the plinth in kind, leaving a remaining £23,000 to be raised.

Led by the EADT and Ipswich Star in conjunction with BBC Radio Suffolk and TWTD, The Beat Goes On was launched on December 18th last year on what would have been Beattie’s 65th birthday.

You can make a donation online via the Go Fund Me page or send a cheque made payable to ‘The Beat Goes On’ to Kevin Beattie Statue Appeal, EADT, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS.

There are also collection buckets at reception at the EADT’s offices and at BBC Radio Suffolk.

You can find The Beat Goes On campaign website here.

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