Watford’s Danny Rose has been praised for his £19,000 donation which helped fund a ‘thank you’ day for NHS staff.

During the first Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020, Rose – who played for Newcastle at the time – made a significant £19,000 donation to the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to help staff with their newly-found battle with Covid-19.

Then yesterday (September 25), Yorkshire Wildlife Park closed its gates to the public to host a private ‘thank you’ day for NHS staff from Doncaster.

Now the NHS trust has revealed that Rose’s donation was part of the reason that NHS staff could have this relaxed celebratory day.

The trust wrote on Facebook: “One of the reasons why we were able to take to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park as a team yesterday was due to the incredible generosity of footballer, Danny Rose.

“The Donny lad donated £19,000 in April 2020 to our trust charity as the first wave of Covid-19 began to bite, to be used for the benefit of staff. It was an amazing gesture and one we will not forget - a big thank you to Danny, who is an absolute credit to this town as well as his family and friends.”

Staff at various Doncaster hospitals, along with their families and loved ones, had exclusive access to the 175 acre park to have a day of peace after staff tackled with the hardships brought from the pandemic.

Richard Parker OBE, chief executive of the trust, said: “Over the past 18 months, every single member of Team DBTH has worked tirelessly to adapt to new ways of working which has allowed us to continue to care for patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A large number of them have also spent a lot of time away from their families and they themselves have had to deal courageously with additional worries and anxieties of having a loved one fighting this disease on the frontline.

“We want to recognise these truly heroic contributions during the pandemic, and we thought the Yorkshire Wildlife Park provided the perfect opportunity for this.

“The park is set over hundreds of acres of land which will allows us all to adhere to social distancing guidance, whilst also coming together to celebrate our recent achievements, during what has been the most challenge period the Trust has ever encountered. It is a small gesture, but the least we could do for our amazing team.”

The DBTH charity added that Rose’s donation funded “a large proportion of the events”.