Thousands of young footballers took to the pitch for the Claire House Cup at a fundraising event which raised an incredible £250,000 for the children’s hospice.
The event, which took place for the sixth year, raised £22,835, and a last minute donation from a supporter took the fundraising total for the Claire House Cup to more than £250,000.
Thanks to sponsors Bagnall and Morris, more than 140 teams from across Merseyside and Cheshire took part in two full days of footballing fun, raising money for Claire House Children’s Hospice in memory of football-mad Wirral schoolboy Elliot Wild.
The former Higher Bebington School pupil passed away in 2011 at the age of nine following a battle with leukaemia. Crazy about football and Liverpool FC, Elliot was cared for at the Bebington-based hospice during the last few weeks of his life.
Claire House Children’s Hospice offers care to children with serious and terminal illnesses, as well as support for their entire family. Through expert nursing care, therapies and experiences, the hospice helps bring back a sense of normality to family life.
Elliot’s younger brother Finley Wild and cousin Oscar Wilkes took part in the cup over the weekend and both won a trophy as part of the awards which was sponsored by Neston Building Supplies.
Elliot’s and Finley’s mum and organiser of the event Jackie Wild said: “We all had a fantastic weekend, it was the first year that Finley has won a trophy, so that was definitely the icing on the cake for me and the rest of the family.”
The football team which were the top fundraisers over the weekend were Greenleas Galaxy under 8s who raised £1,000.
Jackie added: “The boys from Greenleas Galaxy were all so excited to tell me how much they raised, they all did so well to raise so much money and they should all be very proud of themselves.
“We’ve had so many comments on Twitter and Facebook about what a fantastic weekend everybody had. It was a weekend for all the kids to have fun and play football but to also raise as much money as possible for Claire House.
“Elliot was a huge football fan and we couldn’t think of a better legacy to remember our beautiful boy.
“We would also like to thank all of our family, friends and work colleagues who were there to support us over the weekend, we couldn’t have done it without them.”
