When silence can be golden

And the heating engineer – who runs his own company, Bettess Gas – turned it into gold for the charity, raising a shout-it-from-the-rooftops sum of £251.50

The usually noisy football fanatic chose his local pub, The Poynters Arms in Dunstable, for his incredible challenge – one that even his closest chums didn’t think he’d complete.

In fact the silence came about because one friend offered him £20 to shut up during a match.

The enterprising Arsenal supporter said: “I realised there was money to be made and what started as a jest escalated into a full blown fundraiser.”

He did it for Keech because his much-loved niece, Molly Witts, spent some time at the children’s unit at the hospice.

Daryl, of Lewsey Farm, admitted it had been a real challenge to keep quiet.

“It was probably the most exciting game in the past five to 10 years,” he said. “So it was very, very difficult.

“But I did for Molly – and for Keech, which means a lot to me.”