A local fundraising effort in aid of PTEN Hamartoma Tumour Syndrome (PHTS) has culminated in a double edition of charity football matches, with Wednesday night (20 August) seeing the second of two games in aid of a growing charity cause.
Bernice and Ryan Thomas, one of Scott Primary School, and the other formerly of the school, put out a post to parents to help raise sponsorship in aid of their child, Ralph who has PHTS.
The sponsorship page via JustGiving can be found here.
One parent suggested a charity football match, but as the uptake was so high, two games were arranged.
Match one for the Scott Primary team was on 10 August, with the game finishing 7-1 to Dementia United, although Ryan did score the goal for Scott Primary and was awarded man of the match.
The second match on Wednesday night (20 August), was against St John Rigby after their PE teacher, Joel Simpson saw the request for players, with both matches played at Kempston Rovers’ home ground at Hillgrounds.
Only 200 to 300 in the UK affected
The charity’s purpose is to improve the lives of patients, parents and carers of all ages in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who are affected by PTEN Hamartoma Tumour Syndrome (PHTS).
The condition, which is also known by names as Cowden Syndrome (CS) or Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba Syndrome (BRRS), is a rare genetic condition that is thought to affect between 200 to 300 people in the UK.
There was a great crowd for both matches, with friends and family cheering them on whilst fundraising, as Ralph has touched so many hearts.
So far, the fundraising total has raised over £4,300 with raffle tickets still being sold until 7 September. You can buy these online or from Scott Primary School offices.
“When we heard that the charity matches were being organised, we were blown away by kindness of Scott [Haynes] and his family for planning and organising the events,” said Dad, Ryan.
“We are so incredibly grateful for the time, kindness, support and effort that everyone has put into making the matches so successful, from the players, supporters and families that have donated to the venue that held the events.
“Being at the matches was so emotionally overwhelming and made us feel so supported as a family and for that we can’t thank you all enough.
“The awareness and money that has been raised for such a small charity really does mean more than we can explain.
“PTEN hamartoma tumor syndrome is so rare that any awareness and money raised in support of the foundation will go a long way to funding further research and supporting families in the future.
“Thank you will never feel enough!”
Annual event in the pipeline
“I set the match up as Mr Thomas was a fantastic teacher to my daughter to the point that she still talks about him, I love raising money for charity but also the awareness it brings,” added organiser, Scott Haynes.
The response we got from people wanting to be involved; the local businesses, as well as big-name businesses that donated prizes to the raffle and also the fans that came to watch both games just made it so much better.
“We plan on making this an annual event as we all had such a great time.”
“Once we saw the post asking for players, St John Rigby School wanted to get involved and quickly got a team together,” added Joel Simpson, PE teacher at St John Rigby.
“The school is always keen to get involved with fundraising especially when it comes to helping children lead better lives.”
