'Our club bonds us together in life and death'

Bereaved Sunderland AFC fans are being given part of the Stadium of Light pitch in honour of their loved ones.

Pitch clippings are pressed and dried and then placed in either bottles or pouches to be given to families to be placed with their relatives.

The idea came from Sunderland Heaven Branch, which is a group created to offer support to fans who have lost family members.

In May, the group was given £10,000 of National Lottery funding to help with support groups and access to free counselling.

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