Notts Forest kick off Football Fundraiser

Nottingham Forest Football Club is helping to kick off a national football fundraiser for CLIC Sargent. The club are supporting Kick for Children with Cancer which encourages schools and football clubs to hold fun sponsored football activities to raise money for families affected by childhood cancer.

Lifelong reds fan and mum, Jo from Rothley, visited the ground to launch the club’s support for Kick for Children with Cancer. Jo’s son Ben was diagnosed with a rare type of brain tumour in 2004 and sadly died in 2006, aged three years old. Jo and her husband Simon were supported through Ben’s treatment by a CLIC Sargent Social Worker at Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham.

“Ben absolutely loved Esther, our CLIC Sargent Social Worker, and she was a huge support to Simon and I in terms of just having someone there who you could have a cup of tea with and a chat, someone who understood your situation,” says Jo. “Simon and I feel that the support CLIC Sargent provides for the whole family is really vital so I’m delighted that my favourite team are backing Kick for Children with Cancer this year,” adds Jo.

The club will be getting behind CLIC Sargent’s Kick for Children with Cancer campaign at their home match against Cardiff City on Easter Monday, 5th April 2010. The club’s mascot will be sporting a Kick for Children with Cancer t-shirt and the campaign will also be promoted on their website, in the match day programme as well as CLIC Sargent having a stall in the study centre on the day.

Club spokesman said, “Over the Christmas period the club supported CLIC Sargent’s recently opened Billy’s House which provides free accommodation for families of children with cancer. Through this work we were put in touch with the charity’s Kick for Children with Cancer campaign. Working closely with CLIC Sargent we hope to be able to spread the word about this important campaign.”

Kick for Children with Cancer encourages schools and youth football clubs to organise sponsored football-themed events for children of all ages and abilities to raise money for CLIC Sargent. The charity provides a free event pack with everything teachers and youth club leaders need to hold an event including fundraising tips, advice on how to get publicity for the event and template certificates.

Locally, CLIC Sargent funds a team of social workers, a youth development worker and a psychologist based at the QMC. The charity also recently opened Billy’s House, the East Midlands’ first Home from Home for families of children with cancer.  The Nottingham home is one of eight run by CLIC Sargent across the UK and means families who have to travel long distances for their child’s treatment can stay together, free of charge.
 
For more information on how to take part in Kick for Children with Cancer call 08451 20 22 32 or register online today. top of page