A fundraising page set up in memory of Hollands & Blair stalwart Laurence Plummer has raised almost £7,000 - boosted by a New Year’s Eve run.

Sittingbourne boss Darren Blackburn, a former player and manager at Blair, ran a 5k at midnight of December 31 to help push the total past the £5k total. That figure has been smashed.

Blackburn set up the page to raise funds for a suitable way to honour the man who ran Gillingham side Blair for 50 years. Plum - as he was commonly known - died of Covid in November. He had also worked at Gillingham Football Club.

Blackburn said: “My target was to raise £5k but I didn’t want to say as under the current climate that was a lot to ask of people but I was hopeful because of the character he was, the kind of person he was and the amount of people’s lives he impacted in a positive way.

“The fact that we have hit closer to £7k is amazing and I can’t thank people enough. It has had over 130 different donations as well. It is easy to say he was a good guy, but when people actually show it, it means a lot, and I know it means a lot for his family to see that his work has been recognised.”

Blackburn had the idea of a 5k for £5k when the total was just below that figure and his run helped boost the funds.

He said: “I was sat twiddling my thumbs and I saw the total was nearly at £5k and I thought, I wasn’t going to be drinking much anyway at home.

“My missus said earlier in the day that if she felt alright she would do it with me but a few gins later and I ended up doing it on my own!

“The family have also raised over £1,500 for Macmillan Cancer Support as well and it shows just what people thought of him and what a great character and guy he was.

“He had so much time for everyone, so much commitment.”

The Plummer name is already on the main stand, a gesture from the club to Plum and his family in appreciation of their dedication, something that happened months before he got ill. His wife Shirley runs the tea bar at the club and it’s been suggested that the funds could be used to build a more permanent structure at the club in his name, along with a memorial bench.

“It would be great for the family, a longer lasting permanent structure, and a way of benefitting his football club as well,” Blackburn added.

You can visit the fundraising page here