Welsh police sergeant says it was ‘great’ to meet Rob McElhenney

A Welsh police sergeant has said it felt “great” to meet Rob McElhenney in person and thank him for the support he has shown to fundraisers he has set up over the past year.

Wrexham AFC, which is co-owned by McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, is to play Accrington on Saturday afternoon.

Sgt Dave Smith, from North Wales Police, who was on duty on Saturday, got to meet the actor for the first time.

Sgt Smith plays as part of Wrexham Police FC, which is made up of members of North Wales Police who play off-duty, to support charitable causes.

Over the past year, the celebrity Wrexham AFC owners have donated close to £20,000 to fundraisers set up or publicised by Wrexham Police FC.

Wrexham AFC’s celebrity owners have donated thousands to the fundraisers (Wrexham Police FC/PA)

Most recently, they donated £10,000 to a fundraiser in aid of the family of a four-year-old called Louis Perrin, who was born with a rare genetic variant of the TUBA1A gene which causes him to have painful leg spasms, limited mobility, epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Sgt Smith, 37, told the PA news agency: “It was great to meet Rob.

“He’s currently filming in Wrexham before the game today and we saw him in the city centre and it was just an opportunity to thank him really for the support he has given Wrexham Police FC and Louis’ family, which will make a big difference.

He and Ryan have also done so much for the Wrexham community as a whole really and they've made a significant difference to quite a lot of people in Wrexham.

Sgt Dave Smith

“He and Ryan have also done so much for the Wrexham community as a whole really and they’ve made a significant difference to quite a lot of people in Wrexham.”

He added that McElhenney said that Wrexham Police FC is doing an “amazing job” and to “keep it up”.

Wrexham Police FC is to play a charity football match against North Wales Dragons on March 23 to raise funds for the Perrin family.

More information can be found on their fundraising page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/wrexham-police-fc-help4louis.