Courtesy: This is Wiltshire


Melksham footballing women raise profile games' profile while collecting cash for appeal

Saturday 14th July 2012

A group of Melksham footballing women will try to break a record when they take part in a five-a-side futsal marathon on Sunday.

The 10-strong team will be among of about 35 attempting to play the version of indoor football in Swindon for more than 10 hours and raise money for Bristol Children’s Hospital in the process.

The marathon is the idea of footballers Natasha Perry and Saphri Lines, who are raising money in the name of 11-year-old Calne girl Alice Strange, who is now in remission from leukaemia.

Miss Perry, 24, who recently moved from Melksham to Gastard, said: “There’s a group of 10 of us from the area that have decided to fundraise this year for Bristol Children’s Hospital.

“Alice is a family friend of Saphri’s and was diagnosed with leukaemia. She has just come into remission and, as a thank you to the children’s hospital, we wanted to spend the year raising money doing various different activities.

“Myself and Saphri are lady footballers and we heard about a men’s team who did a futsal marathon in Birmingham about a year ago.

“We thought it was the perfect opportunity – because we know a lot of girls who play in the local area – to raise the profile of women’s football and raise money for a really good cause.”

The women will play non-stop for a target time of 10 hours and 10 minutes in Swindon.

They are hoping to raise a miniumum of £75 a player, but as much as possible.

Miss Perry added: “We play at Swindon Futsal Arena and they have kindly offered us pitch hire for just over 10 hours for free.

“It will be a challenge, but we’re all looking forward to it. We’ve all been doing pre-season training, so we’re up for a challenge.

“It’s for a great cause so we’re just hoping to raise some money.”

The group has set itself a fundraising target of £20,000 for the year ending in October and has managed in the region of £14,000 so far.

To give sponsorship, visit www.justgiving.com/katch




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com