Supporters show great generosity to raise a five-figure sum for three charities.
We are pleased to announce Jamie Walker’s tenth annual charity football match, which took place at One Call Stadium on Sunday 17 May, raised a staggering total of £11,200.
Around 1,000 spectators saw a very competitive game between Mansfield Town legends and the Once Upon A Smile TV soap stars, which the celebrities won by a 6-4 scoreline to claim the Playback Enterprise Fundraising Trophy.
A fun-filled day also saw various activities around the ground including a balloon race, for which the top prize was a break at Forest Holiday Village, Sherwood Forest – kindly donated by general manager Amby Tatla. The winner was Mrs Heather Marshall. Her balloon was found at Chapel St Leonards near Skegness.
The money has been split between three charities: The Radford Foundation, Kings Mill Hospital Haematology Department and Once Upon a Smile.
Jamie Walker, a former youth team player here at One Call Stadium, was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma in 2005 and had to undergo a year of crippling treatment and radiotherapy. He was given the all-clear in January 2007.
Jamie was unable to attend this afternoon’s cheque presentation as he has been promoted from first officer to captain for Atlantic Airlines and is currently in Copenhagen completing his captain’s course.
His father, Phill Walker, presented the cheques on his behalf.
Phill said: “I’d firstly like to thank John and Carolyn Radford and everyone connected to Mansfield Town for putting on an absolutely fantastic day.
“I’d like to say a special thank you to Gill Goucher and Chloe Richardson at the Mansfield HSBC bank and Catherine Graves and Kelly Russell at the Halifax Bank in Mansfield, who sponsored the event.
“A big thank you also goes to Richard Wells, Scott Jordan and his team from Playback Enterprise, and Paul White, managing director of Hickling & Squires, who printed the programme for us free-of-charge.
“Also I’d like to thank the children who were mascots on the day. I’m completely overwhelmed with the amazing support which has raised a fantastic amount to be split between the three charities.”
He added: “Jamie’s soccer legends teams have now played the Once Upon A Smile charity soap stars on six occasions and the scoreline is 3-3. If there is an eleventh charity game, who will emerge victorious?”
