ROYAL VISIT IS UP NEXT

The FA Cup 4th round is just days away and the fundraising total for Runcorn2wembley is rising fast.

Donations to the Just Giving website (www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles) have taken the total to just under £3,200, so I'm hopeful of reaching the £5,000 target by the final at Wembley in May.

No rest for the Runcorn2wembley team though as it looks like this weekend could leave us without a collection at the game.

Reading host our current team Burnley at the Madejski Stadium for a 12.45pm ko, but the club had already given permission for another charity to collect at this game - The Guide Dogs for the Blind, a very worthy cause.

Having been faced with a similar situation at the two previous games at Milton Keynes Dons, I resorted to contacting the local businesses (Asda proved a huge help in the last round with a record collection), including B&Q and BHS, but have been turned down.

This leaves only one way of collecting money for the campaign, by Reading 'donating' tickets for the 4-6 Runcorn2wembley fundraisers; the fundraisers will then donate the value of the tickets to the collection. I'm still waiting for feedback from Reading about this.

Members of the team will be at Reading to continue the road to Wembley, but with now little hope of raising any money for the campaign, Cancer Research UK.

Therefore I'm appealing to anyone reading this to pass it on to friends and tell as many people as possible about the online donations page to boost it further.

Simply go to www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles

Meanwhile I'd like to thank the continued communication and help from everyone associated with Burnley FC, particularly Darren in the media department.

In other news The FA is looking to include Runcorn2wembley in the next Trophy Tour, though this is dependent on which team we'll be involved with next.

Coverage has featured in Chester, Runcorn, Milton Keynes, Reading and Liverpool media since Christmas. I'll link all that along with a preview on Friday.