To celebrate the end of the week, today’s blog celebrates the good news stories in football. Here are my three highlights of the week:

Robot Saves The Day

Everton made history this week, using AV1; a robot designed by Norwegian start-up No Isolation to enable 14-year-old Jack to fulfil his mascot duties in the club’s clash against Newcastle.

Too unwell to head to Goodison Park, the AV1 robot which includes a camera, microphone and speaker was connected to Jack’s iPad at home. Carried into the changing room and tunnel by Everton players before heading out onto the pitch in front of more than 39,000 fans, Jack was able to be the world’s first ‘virtual matchday mascot’, being involved in his club’s fantastic win and interacting with his heroes.

Cheap Panini

Doing some World Cup research, I came across @CheapPanini on Twitter, and wasn’t disappointed!

With no cash to collect the World Cup 2014 Panini stickers, Alex and Sian decided to fill the album by drawing out every single sticker individually. Gaining a lot of attention for their efforts, they repeated the feat for Euro 2016 where they raised an incredible £4500 for charity.

The couple are at it again, raising money for Nordoff Robins, MacIntyre, Cancer Research and Stonewall. Kicking off at the same time as the World Cup, Alex and Sian will be aiming to have drawn all 680 stickers by the time of the final… giving them 32 days to complete around 170 hours of drawing between them… oh, and they have a baby to look after, how’s THAT for multi-tasking!

To donate, head over to: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=paninicheapskates&pageUrl=3

Football Shirt Friday

And last, but not least, it is of course #FootballShirtFriday. It’s always great to hear Football bringing so many together to do things for a great cause, and this annual event continues to grow in popularity.

Raising awareness and funds for ground breaking bowel cancer research, everyone is encouraged to wear football shirts to work and snap a selfie, donating towards the charity. If you haven’t already, make sure you get involved and text ‘SHIRT’ to 70200 to donate £5!

Have a brilliant weekend,

Holly