Courtesy: Swindon Advertiser


Footballers play for 10 hours to raise hospital cash

Tuesday 17th July 2012

by Emma Dunn

FOR most football fans, a whole 90 minutes on the pitch is enough to tire them out.

But 31 women played in a five-a-side Futsal marathon for 10 hours and 10 minutes on Sunday in a bid to beat the world record for the longest women’s Futsal match.

They raised about £2,000 for Bristol Children’s Hospital in honour of 11-year-old Alice Strange, who is in remission after battling leukaemia for two years.

One of the organisers, Natasha Perry, 24, said: “We wanted to get into the Guinness Book of World Records but you have to pay £4,500 for an adjudicator. We couldn’t justify spending that much money. But we did manage to beat the current record, which is 10 hours.”

The event was also organised by Saphri Lines, who was in A&E yesterday after breaking her foot.

They chose to raise funds for Bristol Children’s Hospital after seeing what Alice had been through.

“Alice is in remission now but had leukaemia from when she was seven until she was nine,” said Natasha. “The family went through a hard time and Bristol Children’s Hospital did a great job of looking after her. We thought this was a perfect opportunity to do something in aid of that charity.”

They started playing at 10am on Sunday and finished at 8.10pm.
The women, who range in age from 16 to 40, split into two teams with roll-on, roll-off substitutes.

Alice, who lives in Calne, went to watch the event with her parents.

“She said it was really good that everyone was raising the money, she was really pleased,” said Natasha.

Every player was asked to raise sponsorship, and one managed to raise £270.

“It was a bit of a shame that Saphri hurt her foot but it was a good experience overall,” said Natasha.

Eight of the players were from Swindon and all the women were from teams across Wiltshire.

Futsal, which is based in Kembrey Park, let the fundraisers use the pitch for free.

Alice’s family is aiming to raise £40,000 for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at Bristol Children's Hospital by climbing Kilimanjaro.
To donate to the cause visit http://www.justgiving.com/katch.




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