The cartoon artist who draws Lincoln City themed designs has announced that donations for his work exceeded £10,000 in the 2023/24 season alone.
Chris Wray, creator of ‘Imptoons’, has been an Imps fan his whole life and began creating City themed designs in 2016 as a bit of fun with his daughter. After sharing some of his work on Facebook and gaining a following he soon began to sell his cartoons in the name of charity and to put some money back into the football club he loves.
Eight years on, he has just sent out his fifth annual yearbook, and recently announced that donations and sales had reached £10,175 for this season alone.
The yearbook, which summarises Lincoln City’s topsy turvy 2023/24 campaign in fun cartoon form, takes months to complete and ship to Imps fans across the country but is only growing in popularity season by season.
Speaking to The Linc, Mr. Wray said: “Yeah it’s really rewarding, it’s what keeps me drawing. It’s a lot of work to go into it, but it’s worth it when you see thousands going to charity it makes it all worthwhile.”
One of the charities selected to benefit from the donations this year was The Lincoln City Foundation, who received £682 and have been the recipients of £1,292 across the years. The foundation work within Lincolnshire to offer programmes that offer support for people with their mental and physical wellbeing, aiming to create a “Happier, Healthier and Inspired community”.
‘Adventures of Theo’, who raise awareness and money for Ohtahara Syndrome, a neurological disorder which occurs in just 10 of every 100,000 live births, received £1,786 off the back of the recent yearbook.
On the story behind his selectionS, Wray said: “A lot of the suggestions come from the people who buy the yearbook, so it was his [Theo’s] career who reached out to me via social media so I was happy for them to be one of our charities.”
Finally, a service that everyone hopes to never need but is immensely grateful for, Lincs & Notts Air Ambulance, received £1,271 as Charity partners of Lincoln City.
Mr. Wray, 35, also donated just under half the year’s donations directly to Lincoln City FC, with £4,558 going the way of the club this year.
He said: “Well it allows us to be a sponsor for another year, as well as allowing us to give away a few free tickets and run a few competitions through the year.
“Perhaps most crucially it gives us access to getting stuff signed by players which helps raise more money for charity as well. Being linked to the club allows us to raise more money so one helps the other really.”
https://twitter.com/imptoons/status/1797703547469111345
As well as the annual Imptoons figures, Mr. Wray also published the all-time records on his X/Twitter account, showing that over £20,000 has gone back into the football club as a result of his drawings.
He has raised a staggering £13,817 for numerous charities including Sophie’s journey, Bradford Burns Unit, British Heart Foundation FC and Sincil Foodbank.
The work never stops for Mr. Wray, who has already teased the front cover for his 2024/25 yearbook. He said: “The donations are incredible, so I’ve got to keep going, so next years is already on the go!”
Feature Image Credit: Chris Wray