Irons United is proud to share with you an insight into the amazing work that is going on at www.fornannyandbobby.com with this amazing piece by Jonjo. Be sure to show them your support, donate what you can and help build even more awareness for this touching cause and something all of us Hammers can relate to. Hats off to them for their remarkable efforts!
Sometime back when the demolition of The Boleyn Ground started, I contacted the demolition company to ask if they would help me by giving me some of the stadium seats so that I could put them up for auction on behalf of The Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK. I don’t know if you know about my story but I have been fundraising for the charity since I was 8 years old (I’m 15 now) in memory of my Nan and Bobby Moore. So far, with the help of some amazing people, I have raised over £310,000 for the fund. It was long later that my requests were met with open arms, with the demolition company kindly giving me 10 seats to help me with my fundraising, but then they contacted me later to offer me something even more special.
“So far, with the help of some amazing people, I have raised over £310,000 for the fund.” – Jonjo
Years ago many fans had bought commemorative bricks at the old ground; bricks that had special inscriptions on for themselves, their families or friends. Due to the difficulty of removing the bricks it was not possible to guarantee that they could all be removed undamaged and returned to the individual fans who had purchased them. So, the club kindly copied the inscriptions onto new stones in Champions Way at The Olympic Stadium – but there’s nothing quite like the originals. That said, the demolition company had decided that they wanted to try to remove the bricks one by one to give to me to return to their original owners. I agreed to take them if they could and I spoke to my team of Bobby Moore Fund helpers, all of which are West Ham fans and season ticket holders, to ask for their help.
So, one day we all stood at the gates of The Supporters Club waiting for the delivery of salvaged commemorative bricks, not knowing how many the demolition company had saved. A tipper truck pulled up alongside us with over 500 bricks on board and the work to return the bricks to the West Ham fans who had purchased them had began. My team of helpers logged all of the inscriptions, sorted the bricks into alphabetical order and began sharing the details on social media and on my website. We have also hosted collection days at The West Ham United Supporters Club.
Since then the demolition company has also passed to us bricks from the commemorative walls in the main stand area too and have helped to salvage over 1000 Boleyn Bricks. All of the bricks are now logged and 90% of them are completely intact and we are busy trying to locate their owners – having returned over 350 bricks to fans so far. All of the bricks are returned free of charge but many fans have decided to make voluntary donations to The Bobby Moore Fund as a thank you to the volunteers for their help. We have also offered a postage service at a flat UK rate of £5 but the courier company, owned by a fellow West Ham supporter, is kindly donating all of the postage fees back to the charity too. So far the project has raised over £6,000 for the charity and we have a big collection day planned at The Supporters Club on 12th August where we expect to return another 150 bricks or more to fans.
We have also sent bricks to Dubai, Ireland, USA, Spain, Sweden and more and have set up a Facebook page ‘Boleyn Brick Salvage’, where fans have been posting pictures and details of brick inscriptions they would like us to find for them.
It’s a brilliant project and it’s great to be able to return a special piece of the Boleyn Ground back the original owners.
You can find out more about the project on my website http://www.fornannyandbobby.com or by joining the ‘Boleyn Brick Salvage’ page on Facebook. Special thank you to Rye Demolition for helping, the team of volunteers who have worked really hard, and the many fans who have donated to the project.
Quotes and pictures:
Billy Bolland – Bolyen Brick Salvage Facebook Page
Thank you all so much for finding and sending back my brick it arrived in the post today. What you guys have done is brilliant. I think everyone on this group didn’t think they would ever get these back. Thanks again ⚒COYI ⚒ – – B##
Iris Huard – Boleyn Brick Salvage Facebook Page
Can’t thank you enough for my brick which arrived today. iris and les, happy 25th. I am so pleased I got it back, it was always my pride and joy and I showed anyone that cared to come with me to look at it when it was at Upton Park. Once again thank you x
Leslie Pendlebury-Bowe – Boleyn Brick Facebook Page (this fan took two bricks to Dallas to return them to a fellow fan)
Team Jonjo (below) – The volunteers who’ve helped with the project.
Finally delivered Mike’s two bricks, all the way from Upton Park, to the working men’s club, to Tunbridge Wells, to my suitcase, to Dallas Fort Worth!
By Fornannyandbobby.com Fundraiser Jonjo
West Ham Irons United 