Everton under-23 team raise a whopping £244,000 to open hotel for homeless youngsters

PREMIER League starlets have raised a staggering £244,000 to create their own version of a Premier Inn – for homeless young people.

Everton’s under-23 team are using the cash they raised to buy a house that will provide shelter for those at risk of rough sleeping.

The Everton under-23 squad raised a total of £240,000 to buy a property to house the homeless

The property will provide a roof over the heads of 16-23-year-olds in Liverpool who have fallen on hard times or dropped out of the care system.

The youngsters’ campaign received a big cash injection from right-back Seamus Coleman – who chipped in £8,000 – and Blues’ legend Duncan Ferguson who donated an unspecified amount.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright also weighed in.

The club’s stars-of-the-future even got first-hand experience of what it is like to be homeless by spending a night sleeping in the stands of Goodison Park last November – on what turned out to be the coldest night of the year.

Coach and former Everton star David Unsworth said: “To be able to finish the project and help the people in Liverpool who need it most, it’s the best and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

The fund-raising was run in conjunction with the club’s official charity, Everton in the Community.

David Unsworth said the project is the ‘most rewarding’ thing he has ever done

The fund-raising was run in conjunction with the club’s official charity, Everton in the Community