Former Sheffield boxer as Facebook fundraising page for charity event shut down

Nicki Smedley, 33, who was once branded as the next Naseem Hamed, has organised a night of entertainment and boxing to raise money for Sheffield Children's Hospital.

The event will be held at Sheffield Works’ Department, Heeley Bank Road, on Saturday, March 16, and a fundraising page he set up on Facebook to draw in the coffers.

Nicki, who was once an English title contender, said it had already raised more than £1,000 for the hospital but when he logged into his Facebook account on Monday, the page had been shut down.

And after being told he had set up the page incorrectly, that money – £977.61 – has all been refunded back to individual donors and he was left to start again.

He said: “My daughter – River – went to the hospital and she had a blood transfusion after being diagnosed with a one in a million condition so that’s why I want to raise money for them.

“It had raised more than £1,000 and I just logged in and it said somebody had reported the page and it had been shut down.

"It's going to be really hard to back to £1,000 before the start of the event.”

The event will include celebrity appearances from Sandra Martin from TV show Googlebox, performances from Signature and Stu Arnold from Briatin's Got Talent as well as the Wealdstone Raider.

A total of 16 boxers will also feature in the event before a performance from a Michael Jackson tribute act.

Nicki said: “It’s really upsetting when people are doing all they can for charity and then a page can get taken down just like that.”

Facebook said the page was shut down after it was set-up as a ‘personal fundraiser’ rather than one specifically for non-profit organisations, which broke its policies.

For more information or to donate to the new appeal visit https://www.facebook.com/donate/251878179033351/

Doors will open at 4pm. For more information or to book tickets call 07774 355514.