Another perspective on this: if Villa had simply donated the proceeds of their shirt sponsorship to the hospice, it would be a lot more meaningful to the charity. Free publicity is all well and good but it's just public relations unless it's backed by the cash. From the Guardian article, the charity's annual budget 6m pounds. Villa's shirt sponsorship with 32Red was 2m pounds a year. If it donated 50% of that every year to Acorn, it would be a 20% increase in their funds. Same goes for Barca. It's a nice gesture but I think hard cash is more helpful.
Not if you're looking to raise your profile. You can't buy this kind of Worldwide publicity for a million quid.
There's a lot of cynicism in this thread, which is a disgrace. There's no guarantee Villa will sell more shirts, so that theory is a bust - and they'd have to sell a shitload to make up the sponsorship deficit. If the owner said 'I'll cover that' and this gets Acorns the publicity they deserve, so much the better.
The publicity will last for much longer than a single cash donation.
Very impressed Villa have done this, frankly.