Unfazed by ongoing family drama, Tottenham's Dele Alli plays charity phone operator
PFA Young Player of the Year Dele Alli has giving Tottenham fans’ dreams plenty of reasons to cheer with his recent exceptional form for the club.
After scoring 17 goals in 33 appearances this season, he took up the role of ambassador for Tottenham’s adopted children’s charity, Rays of Sunshine.
Alli’s first task was to be a phone operator at the annual BITG Charity Day in London to help raise funds.
The midfielder got on the telephone and tried to bring in money for the charity. He also brought some cheer to the beneficiaries of the charity – many of whom have serious or life-limiting illnesses.
Alli posted up photos from his day out at the event on his Instagram page, writing, “Had a great time yesterday with @btigcharityday for @raysofsunshinecc trading to grant magical wishes and meeting these amazing young kids, very inspiring hearing their stories.”
Meanwhile, Alli’s private life is under scrutiny again. Popular British documentary programme, BBC Panaroma, has indicated interest in making an episode about his family turmoil.
Since he was 13, Alli has lived with his guardians Alan and Sally Hickford.
Although they never officially adopted him, Alli regards the Hickfords as his mother and father. He previously cut off contact with his biological parents Denise and Kehinde, who split when he was three. Alli has never addressed the estrangement.
Alli’s biological parents are determined to get their son to acknowledge them publicly, although their efforts have been mostly futile.
ARSENAL GOALIE HIT THE DRUMS
Meanwhile, Tottenham’s derby rivals Arsenal may be going through a tumultuous period this season, but their goalkeeper Petr Cech seems to have found a smashing new way to take his mind off issues on the pitch.
The Gunners goalkeeper took a day off from the training pitch ahead of Arsenal’s crunch Premier League clash with Manchester United this weekend.
The 34-year-old stopper visited the Nordoff Robbins Centre in London on Thursday (4 May) where he paid a visit to the refurbished Arsenal Foundation music therapy room.
He wrote on Twitter, “Pleasure on behalf of AFC Foundation to visit Nordoff Robbins music therapy centre and spend time with Peter today.”
A keen drummer, Cech even has a YouTube channel where he shows off his abilities on drum covers of popular songs by Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Linkin Park.
