LOCAL charities have praised Poole resident Harry Redknapp for his tireless support after he was cleared of tax evasion charges.

The Tottenham Hotspur boss was cleared alongside former Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric. His Sandbanks home, shared with wife Sandra on the south coast’s most expensive peninsula, might be a bolthole from the pressures of the Premier League – but Redknapp could never be accused of retreating from the Bournemouth and Poole communities.

Aside from enjoying long walks along Sandbanks beach, where he’d exercise his beloved pet bulldog, Rosie – now known to all through recent proceedings at Southwark Crown Court – the former Cherries manager is a staunch supporter of numerous local causes and charities.

Ask the children, parents and staff at Julia’s House Children’s Hospice what they think of the ‘East End boy done good’ and you’ll receive nothing but praise.

Mr Redknapp is a long-standing ambassador for the children’s hospice, where he has attended events for the past eight years.

Hospice chief executive Martin Edwards told the Daily Echo: “Harry has been a fantastic patron.

“He has been a loyal supporter since the early days of Julia’s House, when few people had ever heard of us. His high profile helped the charity get started, helped to get the hospice built. We think Harry is wonderful and so do our children and their families.”

Mr Redknapp has regularly backed Lewis-Manning Hospice’s fundraising drives as well. Last year he launched their ‘buy a brick’ appeal to help raise money for a new 15-bed unit.

“Harry Redknapp has kindly supported Lewis-Manning over the last two years,” said chief executive Elizabeth Purcell.

She added: “He is a patron of our Time To Care Appeal, which aims to raise £2.5m to build the new hospice.”

Cherries chairman Eddie Mitchell, pictured, agrees the former AFC Bourne-mouth manager does ‘an awful lot for charity’.

Mr Mitchell stressed: “A lot of people benefit from his hard work – he finds it hard to say no to people. He simply does a lot for those less fortunate.

“I think he is of great character and should be made the next England manager.”

Meanwhile, Gill Emney, of the Poole-based arts charity Aim Community, said: “I’ve been through cancer recently and came through the other end. Harry will always say yes, he will never say no.

“You ring him up and he’ll do everything he can to help. We’ve got a family of four going up to meet the players at Spurs very soon.

“He has always got a smile. Anybody who speaks to him will tell you the same.”

Gill, a property consultant at Sandbanks’ Tailor Made Estate Agents, added: “We have a coffee club at Café Shore and he’s always happy to talk to us.

“I’ve never known him to not have time for people.

“He’s always done so much for charity.

“If you pick up the phone and ask, he is always there.”