Boreham Wood Football Club have over these past few months, been busy once again raising awareness, money and doing our bit for a number of local charities and good community causes.
As part of the clubs ongoing community programme, our aim is to give back to as many local good causes where possible, and this has been particularly rewarding last two months. At our recent end of season Gala Dinner our charity raffle on the night raised a fantastic £630 this year. That amount was then kindly doubled by our Club Chairman and that meant we raised the healthy sum of £1,260 on the night.
The money raised was then split between two very deserving causes. The first good cause was for Shenley Primary School, who sought funds to help build an outdoor play area. This good cause was in fact chosen by our clubs PASE Manager Billy Hunter, who has since with the help of the club and its fans raised further funds, by training for months, gathering further sponsorship and then completing a more than energy sapping triathlon for his troubles.
Billy’s daughter Maisie has been diagnosed with ‘Global Development Delay’ which effects both her physical and mental development. Billy explained “When Maisie started her nursery school in 2014, she was unable to communicate and had extremely restricted mobility. However in just 2 ½ years, Maisie has come so far, and she is now able communicate through sign or emotional sound and her physical development has improved so much. She can now run, jump and enjoy physical activity with the other children and this is because of the support, dedication and love from Shenley Primary School and their incredible caring staff.
“Maisie loves to learn and she loves going to school, she is never discouraged by her challenges and continues to overcome every obstacle she faces. Not only have the school made it possible for her to attend, but they have also made it a place where she belongs and this is more than myself and my wife Jade could have ever dreamed of.. So to help raise funds for a project that will benefit the whole school is something that I was motivated and honoured to do”.
The clubs second good cause and chosen charity, is close to the heart of one of our match day head stewards in Mr Sid Khan. Sid like Billy also has personal reasons for wanting to help such an incredible charity as Home Start. As such Sid regularly undertakes gruelling challenges such as Tough Mudder to raise money for his chosen charity. Sid will shortly undertake a trek across the Sahara desert and BWFC are delighted to be playing a part in raising money for him and such a worthy cause.
As such our Club Chairman and staff attended Sids Home Start charity event on Friday evening (19th May) to raise money for both Home Start and Autism. The club also offered up an Arsenal signed football in a beautiful glass presentation case for the auction. After Sids heartfelt talk to his guests and a bit of supper, the room played their part in raising over 15k on the night, all of which will go to his chosen charities and a long way towards Sids fundraising target of £20k.
The clubs third recent good cause is an old BWFC charitable favourite in Brookside Boys Club. This long established local institution is close close to both our Chairman, his staffs and other local people’s hearts in Borehamwood,
Most of the local boys in the area have in fact at one stage or other boxed or played football for this famous old club. That includes our Chairman Danny Hunter and he was once again delighted to be able to donate the sum of £2,000, which was again made possible by the FA Community fund which is accessible to all clubs that reach the FA Cup first round proper.
Finally the Chairman and our club staff were part of an amazing Charity dinner hosted by the our football clubs very good friends Eddie and Joyce Lim at their world renowned Mango Tree Restaurant in Grovesnor Square.
All of Eddie and Joyce’s friends were asked to buy a table and attend this important charity event to help raise funds for The Helping Hands Fund. This is an incredible deserving charity that supports children with cancer at the nearby Barnet Hospital. It also provides Massage Therapy Service to all hospitals of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.
The Chairman, our club staff and all the guests helped make the evening a huge success for the helping hands fund and, after an incredible meal and the auction had ended, the room had helped raise an incredible sum of over £50,000 which was a monumental effort by everyone involved.
Wood Chairman Danny Hunter commented “it’s been a privilege to see so many people genuinely care about others. I’ve heard such sad but uplifting stories. I’ve witnessed true selflessness, care, kindness and community spirit from our staff and our little football club. So it’s been an honour to help these incredibly worthwhile causes.
“I genuinely want to thank everyone of my staff for their efforts, but especially the likes of Sid Khan and Billy Hunter who have or are completing heroic feats to achieve their sponsorship targets for their amazing causes. I must also thank those unsung heroes in Eddie and Joyce Lim and their amazing staff for allowing us to be a part of such an incredible charity fundraising effort.
“In total the people I’ve mentioned above and the events they’ve organised or taken part in have raised over £70k. These are simply selfless people, who on occasions need all our help. They have been so caring and have made a huge difference with their efforts and are changing the lives of the people they are trying to help”. Hunter concluded.
