Care homes ‘Bend it like Beckham’ to raise money for local hospice
Two care homes in the West Midlands competed in a charity football match to raise money for a nearby hospice.
Staff from both Foley Grange care home in Kidderminster and Sedgley Court care home in Dudley channelled their inner Beckham during the match and successfully raised £100 for the KEMP Hospice.
Jayne Sargeant, head of fundraising and communications at KEMP Hospice said: "We were absolutely thrilled that Foley Grange and Sedgley Court chose to support KEMP Hospice with a £100 donation following their charity football match.”
She added that developing relationships with local organisations is very important to KEMP Hospice services and they look forward to working together in the future.
Even the local football team, the Kidderminster Harriers got involved by giving the staff at Foley Grange some top tips before the match took place at Wyre Forest Leisure Centre.
To start the match, 89-year-old resident and avid football fan, Donald Burden, made the first kick before he cheered the teams on from the sidelines.
Afterwards, Donald said: "It was very entertaining watching them all – it was a great day!"
Despite being beaten by the Sedgley court team, Hannah Atkinson, the home manager at Foley Grange described the match as a “huge success” and said that everyone was proud to have raised such a great amount for the hospice.
She later added: "We’d like to thank the Wyre Forest Leisure Centre for donating their football pitch to us for the day, the Kidderminster Harriers for giving us a fantastic training session, and Fizzy Ink for sponsoring our team and making our fabulous football bibs."
Mitchell Taylor, who also works at Sedgley Court as the front of house manager, thanked The Print Studio for sponsoring the Foley Grange team and making their “ fantastic football shirts”.
He added: "The football match really put the ‘fun’ in ‘fundraiser”!
"Everyone had a great time raising money for this worthy charity working alongside our sister home, Foley Grange, to achieve great things.
"Here’s to our next fundraiser – watch this space!”
Both Foley Grange and Sedley Court are run by ‘Ideal Care Homes’ operating in the north and Midlands.
By Eve Moore
