7 May 2009
A fun football match between the veterans of Sutton United Football Club and a team of professional footballers and celebrities has been organised to raise funds for Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, which is based at St Helier Hospital.
The match, which will kick off on 20 May at 7.30pm at the Sutton United sports ground, will feature players from the famous 1989 FA Cup game against Coventry and a team of celebrities who are yet to be announced.
Any profits made from the match will be split between Queen Mary's Hospital for Children as part of the hospital's centenary celebrations and a local support group for people living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), also known as ME.
Organiser of the Queen Mary's centenary celebrations, senior children's nurse, Sue Collis said: "This is fantastic news for the children's hospital. We are really proud to be supported by the football club and are pleased to say that every penny of the funds they donate will be put to good use.
"As part of our centenary celebrations we really hope to install a play area outside the hospital. This play area will mean that children who are chronically ill and staying in hospital for long periods of time will have the perfect opportunity to play outside.
"We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Sutton United for supporting the hospital during this special year."
Graham Baker, organiser of the football match and staunch supporter of Sutton United FC said: "We think this football match is definitely going to be one to remember, so it seems like the perfect opportunity to show our local hospitals and services just how much we appreciate and support them.
"We know that staff at Queen Mary's do an incredible job and work hard to get families through what can often be very distressing times. That's why we chose to give some of the money to them.
"The other half of any profits made will be given to the Sutton ME/CFS support group. I've suffered with CFS for 14 years now and know full well how difficult it can be to live with. It's a misunderstood condition with no known cure, but thanks to experts at the CFS service at Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and their CFS clinic, I have learnt how to deal with and manage my symptoms."
The CFS service at the Trust was opened in 2005 by Dr Amolak Bansal, consultant immunologist at St Helier Hospital. It was after treatment under this service, that Graham started work to set up a support group.
