MONEY donated in memory of former Newcastle United footballer Gary Speed will go to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, it was announced yesterday.

The Wales manager was found hanged at his Cheshire home just over a week ago.

His funeral is on Friday.

The much-loved player’s widow, Louise, yesterday said she wants money given in his memory to go to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation and another cancer charity, the John Hartson Foundation, both of which her husband strongly supported.

Last year, Speed raised more than £7,500 for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation by running the London Marathon. He also attended the foundation’s golf day in April at Rockliffe Hall, near Darlington.

Sir Bobby’s widow, Lady Elsie, said last night: “I’m extremely touched by the request for donations in Gary’s memory to come to the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation or John Hartson Foundation.

“To be thinking about other people like that at such a difficult time is incredible and I understand Louise believes it’s what Gary would have wanted.

“I’m very grateful and my thoughts will very much be with Gary’s family and friends on Friday.”

The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation was founded in 2008 and has raised more than £3.5m to help find more effective treatments for cancer in the North-East.

The charity funds projects that directly benefit cancer patients from across the North-East and Cumbria.

These include the Sir Bobby Robson Cancer Trials Research Centre at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care, in Newcastle.

It has funded leukaemia laboratory research equipment and contributed to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary’s teenage cancer unit.

The foundation has also enhanced a children’s waiting area, jointly funded a patient quiet and information area with help from Macmillan Cancer Support, and partfunded a complementary therapy programme providing symptom relief for cancer patients – all at the Northern Centre for Cancer Care.

The charity has purchased an ultra-compact cyclotron to help with the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

For information, or to make a donation, visit sirbobby robsonfoundation.org.uk Cheques can also be sent to Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, Room 203, Cheviot Court, Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN.

Former Celtic player John Hartson launched his own foundation after surviving testicular cancer.