Rio Ferdinand inspired by wife and daughters to support female welfare charity

12 September 2023 , 15:43

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Kate and Rio welcomed their daughter earlier this year (Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

In a heartwarming display of support for female welfare, former England footballer Rio Ferdinand has emphasised the importance of backing charities that transform the lives of women and girls. This comes in the wake of the birth of his baby daughter just two months ago.

The 44 year old sports icon joined a star-studded lineup including This Morning presenter Holly Willoughby and Doctor Who actors Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman at the BGC Charity Day. The event, which sees celebrities try their hand at trading, aims to raise millions in memory of employees who tragically lost their lives during the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

Ferdinand, who returned to the BGC Charity Day to champion the cause of Wellbeing Of Women, expressed that participating on the trading floor at this annual event was "top of the agenda" for him. With a newborn daughter, a wife, and other female family members, Ferdinand confessed to the PA news agency, "it's definitely something that is close to my heart in that sense".

Back in July, his wife Kate revealed they had named their first daughter together Shae, following the naming of their first son Cree in 2020.

Rio Ferdinand during the BGC annual charity day (PA Wire/PA Images)

Ferdinand, who also has three more children including daughter Tia from his previous marriage to Rebecca – who sadly passed away in 2015 after battling breast cancer for the second time – commended the BGC Group for "giving up a day of trading to generate a lot of money for the charities involved". In the interview, he praised the initiative saying: "It's a phenomenal initiative, you can see there's loads of people around coming in from all different walks of life who've got a little bit of influence to help raise that money." He added, "It's the most trades I've ever done today so it's good."

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Among the galaxy of stars making trades was This Morning's darling, Willoughby, lending her support to children's charity Together For Short Lives. The 42 year old TV personality made a triumphant return to the annual event, despite This Morning's recent loss at the National Television Awards for the daytime prize. The popular show continues to be under the microscope following Phillip Schofield's shocking departure after rumours of a feud, before he confessed to an affair with a younger male ex-colleague.

Rio is married to Kate Ferdinand (xKateFerdinand/Instagram)

The couple welcomed their daughter earlier this year (instagram.com/xkateferdinand)

This year, the star-studded line-up at the charity day boasted big names like actors Sienna Miller and Damian Lewis, TV hosts Ben Shephard, Laura Whitmore and Kirsty Gallacher, and even London's Mayor Sadiq Khan, who described the day as "sombre but inspiring".

Mr Khan, who attended the event in support of the Mayor's Fund for London – a cause championing opportunities for young Londoners from low-income backgrounds, told PA: "I've seen as the Mayor of London, the wonderful contribution BGC makes to the Mayor's Fund for London helping children have meals during the holidays, helping children do even better at maths and other subjects in school."

The 52-year-old added: "I want to thank BGC for making something good come out of something awful, (a) tragedy." He acknowledged the emotional weight of the day, as some traders present had lost colleagues in the tragic 2001 attacks. However, he expressed hope they would find inspiration in the "wonderful" work they were doing.

Adding to the star-studded support was Good Morning Britain presenter Shephard, 48, who attended the event in support of Haven House. He described it as a "magical environment" situated close to his childhood home. He said: "I've been involved with them for decades now, a really, really long time and it's just been wonderful to watch them flourish and it's been really tough going through Covid."

He highlighted the struggles faced by charities during the pandemic, but praised their resilience, stating: "It's really tough for charities anyway, but to see how hard they fought because they understood what an important resource it is for the community and for those families."

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S P Jones