Town have revealed that almost 20,000 tickets have already been sold for the home game against Sunderland on Saturday 18th December, the first of the three matches in the #PackOutPR promotion.

The campaign is aimed at building a big atmosphere for the visit by the Black Cats, Wycombe on Wednesday 29th December and Lincoln on New Year’s Day with a bundle of adult tickets from £40 and seats at individual matches from £15 with similar discounts available for concessions.

In addition, a further initiative instigated by fan Matt Cattee has led to £12,500 having been raised via social media by fellow supporter Richard Moss for fans who would otherwise be unable to attend the games.

Inspired by the fans’ generosity, Town manager Paul Cook, coaching staff and the first-team squad will be purchasing tickets for supporters wouldn’t be able to be at the matches.

Town CEO Mark Ashton told the club site: “I said when we launched #PackOutPR that it was a call to action to the supporters. They’ve met that call - and then some.

“I would like to thank the incredible generosity shown by supporters to raise that amount of money so others less fortunate can come to Portman Road.

"To have sold almost 20,000 tickets for a match which is still over a month away is truly incredible.

“As I’ve said multiple times before, we can only do this together - so I’m pleased that Paul, his staff and the players will also be doing their bit to support the cause and the community they are all so proud to represent and be a part of.”

Ashton has previously set a target of a crowd in excess of 28,000 for the Sunderland game, which will be attended by the US owners and investors.

Photo: Pagepix

Wooly74 added 14:09 - Nov 17 Ok, So I might be missing something here because as a season ticket holder I haven't looked that much into this, but saw the Look East piece last night (I was amazed to even see us on the bias network) and think what Matt and Richard are doing is amazing. But why don't the club themselves go one step further now and say to us season ticket holders, would you like vouchers or instead donate additional match day tickets to those less fortunate fans. I for one fan would be more than happy for my voucher money to be donated to Matt & Richard for additional tickets for other fans.

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ArnieM added 15:09 - Nov 17 Email Mark Ashton just that 👍 …. I'm sure the Club would be responsive
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SouperJim added 16:29 - Nov 17 Great suggestion Wooly, I'm not in a position to donate money but would happily give up the team card bonus.
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Bazza8564 added 16:31 - Nov 17 Its a great idea fellas but i think the club would find it difficult to manage a scheme for some ST holders to opt in when others would want to opt out, better we simply donate to keep it cleaner for the club and less complex, especially as i believe the value of voucher money varies depending on take up (??) However, it's absolutely terrific that this type of thing is going on and hopefully testament to the enthusiasm and goodwill that is building amongst us fans. I took an old friend to the Oxford game at the weekend (wifes ticket she was busy i promise) and treated his kids to join us, it was a great feeling to see people there who otherwise wouldn't go, so I do wonder if, as a group of fans, we could somehow have a pot to donate into out of season and maybe buy some season tickets that the club could offer to disadvantaged fans on a rota or a draw system going forward ??

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atty added 17:32 - Nov 17 Bazza8564, Good thinking in that l think it would be great if this could be set up/organised on a permanent basis, or do you think that's a bit too far and there would be a danger that would counter productive - donor fatigue etc.
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Bazza8564 added 17:57 - Nov 17 Ok so lets walk this through.... The guys are talking about supporting the Pack Out campaign by £40 and they've raised £12.5k in about 3-4 days so the volume is there for sure, assuming everybody has given £40 thats 312 donors, more likely someone has chucked a couple of grand in but principle the same. If we got organised in the same way in the summer and managed to find a band of say 500 people who were prepared to chuck £50 in the pot, thats £25k. If the club supports discounted tickets on this "scholarship" scheme (call it what you will) we could probably do better. If a season ticket in SRA or Cobbold was available to this group at a rate of say £350 adult £150 child we could buy 50 season tickets (25 pairs one adult one junior) easily. And £50 is the cost of a shirt, so its not unreasonable to expect people to kick in that amount of money for their fellow fans once a year. I know Dan Palfrey from the club, he's just been elected onto the Community Trust Board, is it worth me putting a feeler out to see if they would allow us to do this under their umbrella for next season and involve the two guys who have headlined the fans response to the POPR appeal so successfully??

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fistpumpfury added 18:58 - Nov 17 This is a great initiative and all of you should be applauded for increasing the inclusive nature of the club. This has always been a fantastic family club but this another level. Pack out the ground. Proud to be part of it, Uppa Towen
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Kuqishitsonpukki added 19:45 - Nov 17 I think it's a great idea, I'd be happy to donate in the off season knowing it's bringing more money in and potentially widening the fan base. I put enough extra pennies across the palm of Evans over 12 odd years so I'm more than happy to throw some money towards bolstering the new regime. I can't remember a more exciting time to be a town fan! The promise of improvements at PR and the fact that we will be a force in the transfer window is amazing! We have all deserved this after the last decade or so that's for sure.

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Bazza8564 added 21:42 - Nov 17 Ok so I've spoken with both Richard and Matt, and emailed the community trust via Dan. It's going to go quiet now whilst we let the POPR campaign run its course, but with luck it will happen as a fan led scheme but in concert with the club and CT. The boys are still accepting donations, I've sent my £40 over tonight for one more adult. I cant post bank details on here but either contact Richard Moss via FB messenger or post me a message to me via FB @Barry Morgan-smith and I'll send them to you. I really hope Richard and Matt will be central to the longer term campaign, they deserve the credit….

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