Wayne Rooney makes huge donations to children’s charities in wonderful festive gesture

This is class.

Wayne Rooney has taken a lot of stick over the years. Whenever he was poor for Manchester United or England, the striker was lambasted in the media. He has also, much like David Beckham before him, had to put up with his personal life being scrutinised on a nearly daily basis in the tabloids. So, in the interest of balance, we felt it was important to acknowledge the incredible gesture he made this week. The Everton forward handed over three cheques to children's charities, with his total donation coming in at €844,000. https://twitter.com/johncrossmirror/status/944514047575248896 Rooney presented cheques to Claire House, a children's hospice, as well as Alder Hey children's hospital and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. The funds were raised through his own foundation. Rooney spent some time this week visiting the charities and meeting the children he was helping in a remarkably kind and generous gesture that highlighted his good-nature. The 32-year-old former England captain has often helped charities down the years, including a six-figure donation to The Wayne Rooney Foundation earlier this year to help victims of the Manchester bombing. Rooney's wife Coleen lost her younger sister Rosie to a rare brain condition in 2013, aged just 14, something which greatly affected the footballer. With this touch of class, he has helped those in need at Christmas time – and we applaud him for that. https://twitter.com/EvertonNewsFeed/status/944328123293761536