The family of a young German fan who was filmed crying at Germany’s game against England at the Euros have announced that the money raised for her will go to charity. An English man had raised 36.000 pounds through the donation site JustGiving.

Money raised for German fan to go to charity

The money raised by a man in Newport, England for the German girl who was filmed crying at the Euros will be donated to charity. Joel Hughes set up a JustGiving page for the girl after witnessing “vile abuse of the images of the little girl” online, and it quickly racked up over 36.000 pounds (more than 40.000 euros) in donations.

In a statement on the page, the family addressed the donors, informing them that the money would be donated to UNICEF: "In the interests of our daughter and our family we would like to remain private. However, we wish to thank everyone for your amazing support. Our daughter would like to request your generous donations go to UNICEF, knowing that your kindness will do good."

Why was the money raised?

During England’s 2 – 0 win over Germany in the European Championships, a German girl was filmed crying whilst being comforted by her father; the footage was mocked online by some English fans. Mr Hughes subsequently set up a donation page for the girl after seeing the abuse online. The initial target was 500 pounds, with Hughes saying he hoped the girl’s parents would “spend this on a nice treat for her so that she knows that not everyone from the UK is horrible.”

The page has now raised over 36.000 pounds from more than 3.000 donors, 7.233 percent more than the initial target. Mr Hughes has since said he is “beyond grateful to all the supporters” of the campaign.