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When
Lewis Marsh died in May 1998 it sent shock waves around the community.
Sandhurst has grown from the small village it once was, but it has
retained the community spirit. Lewis had played football for the
team my husband managed at the local football club. He also
played tennis and had gone to a local primary school so he had touched and
met many people in his life.
At his funeral I read
about CRY on the back of the service sheet. I was a mother of three
sporting boys and was shocked by what I read. I talked to a family
friend who was also the Chairman of the football club. We both
felt something should be done, and with the blessing of the Marsh family
had a meeting with Alison Cox - Founder of CRY. The Lewis Marsh
Fund began.
This is of course
history now that has been told many times. The Fund took off in a
big way – the Mayor of Bracknell Forest made it his charity of the year.
We quickly raised enough money to fund an
ongoing ECG programme in
the area.
But what has been
amazing has been the continual support of the football club. Every
year they stage a tournament at the beginning of the season - The Lewis
Marsh Friendly Tournament. Not a 5-side-tournament, but for
complete teams depending on their age groups. It is incredibly popular,
and each year hundreds of young people come together in the name of
sport.
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"Sandhurst Town Boys and Girls Football Club (STBGFC) recently
donated £2500 to help fund the testing of local youngsters for heart
defects, by the Cardiac Risk in the Young charity (CRY). The
money was raised at the club’s annual pre-season tournament which is
dedicated to the memory of Lewis Marsh, who played for STBGFC before
he tragically died from an undetected heart complaint at the age of
14.
Over the past 7 years, STBGFC have donated in excess of £30,000 to
the Lewis Marsh Fund to help buy heart scanners and test over 500
youngsters. Pictured right receiving the cheque from Chairman
Peter Morris with members of the club is Gill Weston, Lewis’s
mother.
STBGFC is an F.A.
Charter Development Club and provides football in Sandhurst for over
400 youngsters between the ages of 5 to 18”
Ian O’Neil STBGFC
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The work involved in
bringing this together is incredible. It has evolved from paper
pushing to the internet – the computer has taken some of the hard work
away but not all. Teams are turned away such is its popularity.
Conduct rules are strict and the atmosphere is wonderful – everyone
together to enjoy their sport.
And myself and the Lewis
Marsh Team are there with our tombola stall and information on CRY – but
most importantly with the ECG machines – testing youngsters. We do
not charge individuals – we use the money donated to us from the
tournament.
Since 1998 the Fund has
raised over £93,000 for CRY. We have purchased three ECG machines;
the portable Echo machine used at the CRY cardiology unit at Northwick;
and a defibrillator for the CRY mobile screening unit. Plus –
tested over 600 young people.
So thank you Sandhurst
Town Boys and Girls Football Club for you help and support and
commitment to CRY. We hope we will be able to continue to test at
the tournament for many more years.
We do not restrict our
ECG testing to young people competing in the tournament – we make it
available to everyone. However we do ask for a donation, if
possible, from those not involved. So please do not hesitate to
contact either myself or the club if you would like to either enter the
tournament or have an ECG test.
The club website is
www.stbgfc.co.uk or you can e-mail
myself at sally.reid@virgin.net
Sally Reid
Lewis Marsh Fund Manager
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