English football star donates £10k to GoFundMe appeal for Southport stabbing victims as fundraising reaches major milestone

ENGLAND football star Anthony Gordon has donated £10,000 to the victims of the mass stabbing in Southport.

The 23-year-old Merseyside-born footballer donated the sum to the GoFundMe account set up by the dance community in response to the tragedy in which three girls were killed.

6

6

6

The terror attack saw Alice Da Silva Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, fatally stabbed.

Gordon’s donation is currently the largest received by Southport Dance Group’s Emergency Fund, with almost £50,000 raised in total as of this evening, at the time of writing.

The fundraising is separate from the £323,000 raised by two members of the Taylor Swift UK and EU Facebook Group, in partnership with Alder Hey Children’s Charity.

Newcastle striker and former Everton star Gordon made four appearances for England.

The Three Lions star featured once during their run to the Euro 2024 final.

If you would like to donate to the GoFundMe click the link here.

On Tuesday, mourners gathered at a vigil to pay tribute to the three young women killed in the Southport stabbing attack.

Bebe, Elsie and Alice were at a Taylor Swift-themed “yoga and dance” holiday club when the chaos unfolded.

The crowded kids’ club quickly became something “like a horror movie,” witnesses to the deadly stabbings said.

Hundreds of people gathered in solidarity outside the Aktinson art gallery in Merseyside to pay their respects following the knife attack.

Large crowds gathered in a minute of silence to pay tribute to the three young people.

Some lit candles while others laid flowers and reflected on yesterday’s tragedy.

Sefton Mayor June Burns said at the vigil that the scale of the tragedy “hit her” when she placed flowers at the scene thinking about the children involved in a Taylor Swift dance class.

“It really gets you, you can’t help but cry because of the wave of sadness.”

Bebe and Elsie, aged six and seven, were identified as the first victims of Tuesday’s attack.

Paying tribute to Bebe, her devastated family said: “There are no words that can describe the devastation that has hit our family as we try to cope with the loss of our little girl Bebe.”

Heartbroken friends and family paid tribute to Alice, saying she was killed by a “despicable human being”.

Headteacher Jinnie Payne said: “It is with great sadness that we hear the tragic news about the three children who died following yesterday’s atrocity, including Alice Da Silva Aguiar, a Year 4 student at Churchtown, and Bebe King, a former student .

6

6

“Alice was the happiest soul, a true ray of sunshine. She was known and loved by everyone in our school community of 700 children, a testament to her unique ability to connect with others.

“Bebe was a cheerful girl whose kindness radiated throughout the Churchtown community. During her time at school, Bebe’s caring nature and love of learning shined through in everything she did.”

Mrs Payne added that “several” other Churchtown children were involved in the attack, as were classmates.

Teacher Leanne Lucas, 35, is fighting for her life in hospital after “courageously trying to protect” children at Hart Space Studios.

Her colleague Heidi, also 35, escaped unharmed after heroically locking some children inside a bathroom to keep them safe.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Hayes, 63, ran into the dance studio and tried to defend himself from the attacker moments after hearing screams coming from his nearby office and was stabbed in the leg.

Merseyside Police confirmed they arrested a 17-year-old man from Banks in Lancashire on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

The force said the motivation for the attack was unclear, but said it was not being treated as terrorism-related.