Wimbledon team wins annual five-a-side football fundraiser

Staff from the Wibbas Down Inn in Wimbledon have won this year’s J D Wetherspoon annual five-a-side football tournament, Kick. The UK-wide tournament has raised hundreds of thousands for Young Lives vs Cancer, the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people.

The Kick tournament is now in its 20th year, and this year alone, J D Wetherspoon staff raised £364,714 in the three months leading up to the final.

The winners were decided at a special final event at Goals in Wembley on Sunday 9 October, which saw the eleven winning teams from the regional competitions held across the UK in September, competing for the trophy. South Strand in Dublin won the plate runners up, the New Crown Inn in Southgate won plate winners and the Standing Order in Southampton were the overall runners up.

The team from the Wibbas Down Inn were announced the winners by Richard Marriner, a Regional Manager at J D Wetherspoon who won ‘Outstanding Employee’ at the Third Sector Business Charity Awards.

Team Captain for the winning team, Alexa Phillips said: “We have enjoyed every minute of the tournament and took pride in fundraising in our pub for such a great charity”

The partnership between J D Wetherspoon and Young Lives vs Cancer, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has raised more than £20million since it began in 2002.  Wetherspoon staff and pub communities have organised and taken part in some extraordinary fundraising events during that time for Young Lives vs Cancer, including a 185-mile cycle from London to Paris earlier this year.

Sam Hughes-Smith, Partnership Fundraiser at Young Lives vs Cancer, said: “We want to say a big thank you to all the staff involved in this year’s Kick tournament. It’s been great to see so many teams from across the UK competing, congratulations to the winning team. This year we’ve celebrated the 20th anniversary of our partnership with JD Wetherspoon, and we’re hugely grateful for all their support”.

Young Lives vs Cancer help children and young people (0-25) and their families to face cancer and everything it throws at them. Their specialist social workers help families from the moment of diagnosis with emotional and financial support from helping to access grants and benefits to liaising with schools and employers, as well as being someone to talk to and to listen to what they need. The charity’s Homes from Home also offer a free place to stay nearby the hospital so families can be together.