A POPULAR charity football game is returning to Oswestry this year bringing TikTok stars to town and raising money Hope House Children’s Hospice and Mind UK.
Match for Mind is coming back to The New Saint's Park Hall ground this October, and organiser, Kieran Davies, has already started planning for it – currently looking for sponsorships to fund the game.
Kieran, from Ellesmere, started this project in 2021 when he put together the event in a little over two months.
He said: “After lockdown in 2020, I was doing a bit of football commentary for these sorts of games, and I thought it really brings the community together.
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“There was nothing like that up here, so instead of waiting for others to pick up on the idea, I thought why not do it myself.”
Kieran added that he did not expect the event to be such a success and he thought it was going to be a “one-time thing”.
“It went sort of viral, and the game got a lot of views online,” he continued. “Our hashtag #MatchForMind on TikTok and got over 20 million views.”
For the 2023, the Ellesmere organiser has been approached by UK wide TikTok and YouTube stars that want to take part in the charity game.
Kieran said: “They are now contacting us, which is great, means that we can bring even more attention to the causes that we want to raise money for.”
“But it’s not cheap so we need sponsorships to be able to put this together” he added “That is why we have all these opportunities for local businesses to get involved, and we rely on them to make this happen.”
In a Facebook post, Kieran has announced all the sponsorships needed for the 2023 game, and is hoping people will get involved.
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“We raise money for two important charities, and this is our biggest match yet, so we hope to get as much sponsorship as possible for it,” he said.
“And it’s also a mutually beneficial thing, as their name gets put on the kit and broadcasted online.”
The game will again be broadcasted for others to watch, and tickets for the event will be available closer to the time.
A fundraising page will also be set up in the next couple of weeks by Kieran, and he urges everyone to keep an eye out for that.
For more information regarding the game you can contact Kieran on Facebook, or email MatchForMind@gmail.com
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