Big-hearted Blackpool fundraiser Ryan (‘Big Ry’) Smith is well-known around the Fylde coast for handing out food and other items to those in need, but this week he made an extra-special personal delivery ... to world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury.

Blackpool's festive champion Ryan is praised by Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury

Ry, from South Shore, helped to deliver fitness training equipment to The Gypsy King’s Morecambe home after a 250-mile dash ahead of the coronavirus ‘lockdown’.

And Fury showed his gratitude by paying for hand-sanitiser which Ry is now distributing around Blackpool.

Ry is greeted by Tyson Fury at his Morecambe home | other

placeholder image — Ry is greeted by Tyson Fury at his Morecambe home | other

It was all made possible by Blackpool businessman Spencer Brown, whose commercial agency Gold Star counts Fury among its clients.

Knowing the champ was on the lookout for more equipment to train at home while the gyms are out of bounds, Brown set to work and of course found his pal Ry more than happy to help.

Spencer takes up the story: “We were running out of time because all the gyms and other places where you could get this equipment were closing down.

“We rang round looking for equipment of the right quality. Nobody could help us until a gym in Ripon (North Yorkshire) agreed to lend us a treadmill, running machine, weights, a bench and dumbbells, which Tyson could use in his front room.

“Of course Ryan threw his hat into the ring to help out.

And so three of them went from Blackpool to Ripon to Morecambe, and Tyson was over the moon.”

The three-hour drive took another dramatic twist as Ry and co arrived at the Fury residence around 8.30pm on Monday, just as the Prime Minister was announcing more stringent measures to counter the spread of the virus.

Ryan takes up the tale: “Tyson said to me, ‘You’ve got here just in time!’ I wasn’t sure whether we would have to go into lockdown at his place but we managed to get back to Blackpool.”

It was a rewarding journey for Ry, who has since distributed the sanitisers Fury paid for around elderly people’s homes.

Ry and Tyson were especially grateful to iGOTDOMS in Ripon for the loan of the equipment.

Ryan was already known to the champ, who sent him a special video message last Christmas on hearing of Ry’s last-minute dash to deliver festive gifts on Christmas Eve. Fellow British boxing hero Anthony Joshua sent one too.

Ry is renowned for staging star-studded sporting events in Blackpool to raise money for those in need.

The enforced break from organised sport has not stopped Ryan, who featured in The Gazette delivering early Easter eggs to children in hospital after a collection via Facebook.