Stephen Dobbie raises more than £5,000 as former Blackpool star completes hair-raising NHS fundraiser

The idea came from the 37-year-old’s two sons, Jack, 10, and Maxwell, 7, who wanted to help the hard-working doctors and nurses up and down the country.

Dobbie, who enjoyed four separate spells with the Seasiders between 2010 and 2014, had initially set a fundraising goal of £1,000.

But it didn’t take long for that target to be smashed and, at the time of writing, it stands at almost £5,200 including gift aid.

“It’s absolutely incredible the amount of money we’ve been able to raise,” Dobbie told The Gazette.

“The times have been hard, the schools have stopped and we’ve been stuck inside, so the kids have been in all the time.

“We went out to do the NHS clap, the first one, and the children were asking about it and we were just trying to explain what is actually happening in the world.

“They asked how they could help and whether we could do anything, so we explained to them about charities and all the work they do and they came up with the idea of shaving our heads and raising some money.

“For them to come up with the idea themselves was brilliant, I was very proud.

“Obviously we’ve never lived through anything like this before, so for them it’s going to be a part of history for years to come.

“To give them that sense of perspective, in terms of what they could do to help the doctors and nurses, has been brilliant.”

Dobbie, who now captains Scottish side Queen of the South, has been stuck at home looking after his wife Susanne, who was showing symptoms.

“She’s feeling a lot better now, she’s come through it,” he added.

“It was obviously a worrying 10 days or so when she really wasn’t feeling well at all.

“She would pick up after a few days only to start feeling really bad again, so that was a worrying time for us with the kids seeing her go through that.

“We’ve tried to take a frightening time for all of us and turn it into a positive to try and help people.”

To donate, visit the website at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?pageId=1156371