Town fans hit goal to buy season tickets for Ukrainian refugees

Nick Braley and Josh Edwards have set up a JustGiving page, with the initial hope to buy two Ukrainian refugees season tickets for next season.

Nick had the idea, as he is taking Viktoriia, 46, and Mykyta, 16, who currently live in Odesa in Ukraine, into his home.

The 52-year-old from East Bergholt said: "I was chatting with them and I asked whether they like football and they said yes, we love to watch football.

Nick Braley (right) is housing the two Ukrainians and came up with the idea of buying them season tickets at Portman Road for the season. Here he is with the great Kevin Beattie (Image: Nick Braley)

They have been to matches at their local stadium in Odesa a number of times so I figured it would be nice to get them a couple of season tickets at Portman Road.

"So I went online and suggested on the TWTD forum whether people would wanna chip in to help get them season tickets.

"A lot of people were very positive and Josh suggested we set up a formal fundraiser."

Josh, 31, said: "When I saw his post I thought this could be bigger than those initial tickets and I think it is such a lovely way of welcoming people to the local area."

Ipswich Town fan Josh Edwards set up the fundraiser to try and get as many tickets for refugees as possible. (Image: Josh Edwards)

With the aim of originally raising £580, which covers the price of two season tickets for Viktoriia and Mykyta, they surpassed that aim within 24 hours, and are currently sitting at £1,270.

With the extra money, they will look to buy match tickets for other refugees that would like to attend games, and reach out to see whether any refugees would be interested.

Nick added: "If you have fled Ukraine, it is clearly going to be a very unsettling time for the people who have fled, and I think it's really nice we can show them a warm welcome to our community.

There will be two new Town fans in the stand for next season (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

"When I told them that we had got them tickets, they were very thankful and Viktoriia said they were very grateful to everyone.

"I think it is lovely that local people are helping with this."

Josh added: "We thought it would be a nice community thing to do and Town is such a great community club, so it's a great thing to do."

To donate to the fundraiser, click here.