Millwall Help Raise Awareness for Fan With Motor Nuerone Disease

BY STEFAN FROST

Millwall will host a bumper lunch and charity auction for a fan before their home match against Birmingham on Saturday December 4.

Roy Fromow, 57, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in March and to help spread awareness of his condition, Millwall have agreed to sponsor a page in their programme on his behalf.

The club and 19 of his friends will then host a meal a meal for him in Millwall’s Executive Lounge.

The page will ask fans to donate to Fromow’s Just Giving page and encourage participation in an auction for a football and signed shirt, the proceeds from which will also be donated.

“It means the world to me,” Fromow told the South London Press. “We all love Millwall. I’ve been going for a few years and met some great people at The Den. It’s a true Millwall family there and with what I’ve got, you need it.

“We’re trying to raise money to finding a cure. It probably won’t happen in my lifetime so it’s for people in the future.

“We want to spread information on the disease, but it’s also important to get the three points against Birmingham.

“Millwall is a fantastic club. They support their own – which is what life is about.”

Dave Hudson, a close friend of Fromow, will also be attending the meal and remains in awe of his close friend’s resoluteness.

“I have so much admiration for him,” Hudson said. “He always says he just has to face up and be positive because he can’t change anything.”

Fromow, nicknamed “Butch” by his sisters when he was a child, started getting aches and pains earlier this year while working as a personal trainer. Thinking it was fatigue, he sought professional advice and went to the surgery where his wife Linda works. Soon after he received his diagnosis.

Fromow is an avid Millwall supporter and has been attending games for the past few years with Hudson, who himself has been travelling to The Den since the age of seven.

“A couple of years ago I got Roy involved with the club,” Hudson said. “He just loved the atmosphere and the people in the stands.”

Hudson said the club’s willingness to help publicise Fromow’s cause demonstrates that there is more to Championship team than many perceive there to be.

“Millwall gets a knock publicly but what they’re doing for Roy shows how the club value community and charity work,” he said.

Since receiving his diagnosis, Fromow has connected with Millwall under-23s goalkeeper Jordan Gilmore, whose relative works for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Fromow is also in contact with former Leeds Rhinos rugby player Rob Burrow, who shares the same diagnosis. Together they are part of a wider group chat which encourages sponsored charity work for the MND Association.

The charity funds research initiatives and supports those affected by MND in Britain. Earlier this year, Hudson and six others took part in a sponsored walk from Eastbourne to Hastings and managed to raise £6,000 for the association.

And next year, Fromow will attend a black-tie ball alongside friends to raise even more money, with Millwall agreeing to donate football boots and goalkeeper gloves for a raffle.

Fromow is eagerly anticipating Saturday and is adamant that the support for his cause will be strong.

“My friends have been willing to donate and I’m sure the fans will too,” he said. “You don’t realise how many mates you have until something like this happens”.

Just Giving Page:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/butchfromowhesoneofourownmillwallfc