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BBC Sport SHEARER DONATES TESTIMONIAL CASH Friday, 27 October 2006 Prime Minister Tony Blair joined Newcastle football legend Alan Shearer to hand over £1.64m to charity.
Mr Blair paid tribute to the former Magpies and England striker for his generosity and hailed him as a role model at the presentation in Newcastle. Among the causes to benefit were the Nordoff Robbins music therapy charity, the NSPCC and Wallsend Boys Club, where Shearer started his football career. Mr Blair said: "It's a tremendous honour for me to come along and participate in what is an act of generosity from a man who is remarkable.
"The pressures and the rewards of being at the top of professional football today are tremendous, but not everyone puts something back. But he has. "When you have that type of reputation in a city, people do look up to you. "There's a certain responsibility and I have never really had the chance to say this publicly before, but it was not just as a player that he earned people's respect." The money was raised through a series of events including a testimonial game against Celtic in May, in front of a packed crowd at St James' Park. Shearer said: "I was lucky enough to live my dream, to play football and get paid for it. "There are not many people in the world who look forward to getting up in the morning and being paid an unbelievable amount of money for doing so. "I was one of them, so for me to have taken the money would not have been right. It was an easy decision to give it to the charities, the difficult part was deciding which charities to give it to."
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The
36-year-old donated the proceeds of his testimonial fund to 14 good
causes.