Charity the winner as cup fever strikes

WORLD Cup fever came to the Braza, in March, at the weekend when a special football tournament raised more than £600 for charity. The hugely successful event was organised by Tom McGrath, of Peterhouse Crescent, March, who is attempting to raise more than

WORLD Cup fever came to the Braza, in March, at the weekend when a special football tournament raised more than £600 for charity.

The hugely successful event was organised by Tom McGrath, of Peterhouse Crescent, March, who is attempting to raise more than £4,000 for Britain's leading mental health charity, Mind.

Tom, 24, had hoped to raise £500 from the football tournament, and he was delighted to exceed his expectations.

He said: "It was brilliant to raise more money, and it means that I am now well on target to achieving my goal.

"You never know how things are going to work out when you organise an event like this, but it was great to see about 250 people there and everyone really enjoyed the day."

The tournament was played out by 21 Fenland teams, each of which represented an international side, competing for an imitation World Cup.

The trophy was eventually won by the 'Australian' side captained by John Knight, of Wisbech.

There was also a lot to enjoy for those not playing football, including a barbecue, stalls, competitions and live music.

And it was so successful that sales engineer Tom has not ruled out other such events in the future.

He said: "A lot of people told me that there should be more charity tournaments like this, and given its success, it is possible that we could see more of them."

However, for the time being, Tom has his sights set on other fund-raising events, culminating in his greatest challenge, a 250-mile cycle ride along the Great Wall of China in October.

Before then, Tom will be taking part in a non-uniform day at Neale-Wade Community College, next month. He will be speaking to students about his fund-raising campaign and the work carried out by Mind.