Saturday’s bucket collection for the Kevin Beattie statue campaign outside Portman Road ahead of the 1-1 draw with Sunderland raised £6,488 which club owner Marcus Evans has pledged to double to £12,976.
The total raised by the Beat Goes On campaign is now around £10,000 away from reaching the figure required to build the statue, which will be sculpted by Blues season ticket holder Sean Hedges-Quinn and placed on Portman Road along from Beattie’s mentor Sir Bobby Robson towards Planet Blue.
Ipswich Town Supporters’ Club chairman Mark Ramsay, a member, of the Beat Goes On committee, who arranged Saturday’s collection, was delighted with the sum collected.
He said: "This is a tremendous achievement and the spirit and atmosphere in which the collection took place meant it was a pleasure to do.
"Supporters young and old have come together to assist us. We had no real idea how much had been contributed until a group of us emptied the buckets and counted it after the game on Saturday.
Town owner Marcus Evans will match the total raised from today's collection with all funds going towards the Kevin Beattie statue on Portman Road! 🙌 #itfc https://t.co/vTZKuW8iVc– Ipswich Town FC (@IpswichTown) August 10, 2019
"My thanks go to all the Supporters’ Club committee that helped, along with a few friends and relatives. But most of all thank you to everyone who contributed, it should make you all immensely proud to be Ipswich Town supporters.”
Since the campaign was launched, just over £70,000 has been pledged in cash, while MC Contracts and Ridgeons are donating the plinth in kind.
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. The Beat Goes On to Kevin Beattie Statue Appeal, EADT, Portman House, 120 Princes Street, Ipswich, IP1 1RS.