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Tom Cruise boosts local football club's COVID crowdfunder with signed shirts

Actor Tom Cruise waves to onlookers as he walks to the set of his latest project, which is filming in the sidings of the railway station in the village of Levisham in the North York Moors. Picture date: Tuesday April 20, 2021.
Tom Cruise signed shirts for Woburn & Wavendon Football Club after they relocated so he could film for Mission: Impossible 7 on their ground. (PA)

Hollywood star Tom Cruise has helped a local football club hit its target in a crowdfunding campaign to help it recover from the effects of the COVID pandemic.

Woburn & Wavendon Football Club in Bedfordshire was given a boost in its campaign when the star — who has been filming the latest Mission: Impossible film on its ground — signed some of their shirts to help boost the campaign.

The club had launched a crowdfunder to raise £12,000 in four weeks to recover from the impacts of the COVID pandemic, which it said had cost around £30,000 over the last two seasons due to cancelled tournaments.

But it hit the target in just eight days, with Cruise's signed shirts helping give it a boost.

In an update on the club's social media and crowdfunding website, it shared how it had had to relocate some matches due to the Mission: Impossible filming but had been thanked with a donation to the local Parish Council as well as Cruise signing the shirts that were then used in the campaign.

The club wrote: "This month, Mission Impossible 7 came to town, filming at an undisclosed location right next to one of our pitches (shh)!

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"It turns out Hollywood blockbuster films require a LOT of space. So when they politely asked us if we could relocate our matches, we had to oblige.

"Not only did the production make a donation to the local Parish Council to help us find a temporary playing location, they were also kind enough to get none other than Tom Cruise himself to sign a few of our shirts!"

The club later added: "Our crowdfunding campaign has cruised to £10,000 in one week, but it's an all or nothing campaign and we ultimately need to hit £12,000. Thankfully we've still got three weeks to go, but we've recruited some special support in our mission to.

"Hollywood star Tom Cruise was in town filming near one of our venues, meaning we had to relocate, but the Mission Impossible crew generously gave us their support with Tom signing a few shirts too. Those are now available as rewards on our campaign page."

It said money raised from the shirts would be put towards the club's community initiatives.

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