St Agnes AFC complete circuits for charity

A personal message of encouragement and congratulations from former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper Bob Wilson spurred the 20 members of the St Agnes AFC Disability Team into serious action when they completed their 10 x 10 sponsored charity circuits.

The players were all raising funds for The Willow Foundation, a charity founded by Bob Wilson 10 years ago, after the death of his daughter Anna, to provide special days for seriously ill young adults aged 16 to 40 years.

To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Charity they hope people will complete 10 things 10 times so the idea of the sponsored circuits was decided.

Wearing special T Shirts for the day, sponsored by Martyn Kimmins Print, the players completed a series of circuits cleverly planned by football team member James, to involve football-based activities including passing, heading, throwing and dribbling, as well as fitness and agility based activities, including speed ladders, press ups, star jumps and sit ups.

The players all completed the full set of 10 circuits 10 times and were supported along the way by their coaches from St Agnes AFC who also had to complete all the exercises! Player Lee was so enthusiastic he completed 100 press-ups instead of just 10, and Peter perfected some of the best Star Jumps of the day!

Whilst completing the circuits player Paul commented: "I am doing really well today, this is fun" and player Marcus said: "Thank you, I enjoy football."

The St Agnes AFC Disability Section has just been sponsored by County Councillor Richard Cooper from his Community Grant Funding and by Spectrum, who create new horizons for people with Autism and have several of their service users involved in the St Agnes AFC team. Councillor Richard Cooper and Tyler Collins (Spectrum's Director Children’s & Young Peoples Services) were both present to support the event and were both presented a thank you certificate by team member Ron for their generous contributions.

The event concluded with drinks and biscuits for all the footballers and a presentation ceremony where all the team members were presented with a certificate and a medal. Special awards were also given; Paul received the Endeavour Award, Claire received the Biggest Smiler Award, Craig treceived he Willow Star Collector Award, Rob received the Supporters Award, Marcus treceived he Most Supportive Players Award, Ron received the Coaches Highest Points Award and Tony received the Chairman's Overall Award.

A personally inscribed and signed book by Bob Wilson was presented to one of the team's goalkeepers, Simon, for his outstanding achievements in football at St Agnes AFC since the formation of the team 4 months ago.

The triumph of the day was the total raised for The Willow Foundation by the footballers and coaches which so far has reached over £700 and is still going up - the event has been supported by Barclays Bank on their £1 for £1 match funding so the Charity will receive well over £1,400 from the St Agnes AFC sponsored circuits which will be more than enough to fund a special day for a seriously ill young adult and give special memories to their loved ones.

In summing up St Agnes AFC, Chairman Mandy Kimmins said: "I am really proud of what our footballers have achieved today. The effort at completing the sponsored circuits and raising the money for The Willow Foundation has been quite outstanding.

"Thank you to everyone who has come along to support and encourage us today and especially to our two new team sponsors; Councillor Richard Cooper and Spectrum. The generous sponsorship received by St Agnes AFC will enable us to provide football kit and equipment for this amazing team of people and help us to enter them into the Abilities Count Football League next season."