Ex-footballer Colin Cooper to wind down charity fund

Julie and Colin Cooper hope the charity can go out with a "massive bang"

A charity set up by former Middlesbrough FC player Colin Cooper and his wife following the death of their son is to be wound down.

Finlay Cooper died from choking in 2002, just before his second birthday, and the fund bearing his name was launched four years later.

It has raised £600,000 and helped children's charities in the North East and North Yorkshire.

Mr Cooper has appealed for suggestions for "final legacy" projects.

The former defender said: "I feel humble that people have helped us, humble that people have wanted to raise money on our behalf and humble that people wanted to help us remember our son.

"We've always said that every penny that comes in goes out.

"We probably couldn't promise that anymore because we would have needed some help to do administration, to do event organising.

"I think in our hearts we'd have loved to have kept going and crashed through a million pounds, but 12 years and 600 grand-plus in the name of a little boy, it's phenomenal."

Finlay Cooper died shortly before his second birthday

His wife Julie said: "It's helped us by helping other people. We've found a lot of peace in that.

"When we lost him, I remember vividly the week after the postman bringing a black bin bag full of letters from people from all over the country just saying, 'I've been through it,' and that was comforting."

Mr Cooper, who made more than 300 appearances for Middlesbrough across two spells between 1984 and 2006, added: "[Going out with] a massive bang would be amazing.

"We're trying to create one, two or maybe three huge, final legacies in our son's name. What we'd like is for people to suggest what the idea might be.

"We can do something significant that means our son's name and the charity's legacy will go on forever."

Mr Cooper also played for Millwall, Nottingham Forest and Sunderland before retiring in 2006.

He later acted as caretaker manager of Middlesbrough and Bradford City before taking on a permanent role as boss of Hartlepool United between 2013 and 2014.