Second civic seal for fundraisers

The Mayor, Councillor Mohammed Hanif, was one of the guests of honour at the War Memorial Ground on Sunday when a team of legends from the Glassboys took on their counterparts from Premier League West Bromwich Albion for the second year running in a fundraising fixture for the Mary Stevens Hospice.

More than 40 players, including 15 former pros led by Darren "Big Dave" Moore, Richard Sneekes, Bob Taylor, Nigel Quashie, Geoff Horsfield and Des Lyttle, turned out in the 6-4 victory for the Baggies only a few days after the EVO-STIK NPL Premier Division club's chairman Andy Pountney, pictured below, collected the Duncan Edwards Award for Sport at the Mayor's Ball and Civic Awards.

As well as helping to open the family fun day for a capacity crowd of more than 3,000, the civic leader also started a mascot race for glory over an oversized obstacle course as fundraising topped the £15,000 raised last season when the clubs first competed for the Jane Webb Memorial Trophy, named in tribute to Stourbridge woman and hospice supporter Jane Webb who passed away in 2015.

Jane’s son Matt, Stourbridge legends captain and the event's co-founder alongside Baggies coach Mark Naylor, told stourbridgenews.co.uk: "It really is just still sinking in. When you look around, and all you can see is just thousands of families enjoying the day it brings it all home.

“I can't tell everyone involved how grateful I am for making the day possible, and thank you so much to the thousands of people who came along and supported the match. I hope they all enjoyed it and we can't wait to go again. We've got a trophy to win back.”

Amanda Bowen, deputy fundraising and lottery manager at the Mary Stevens Hospice, said: “Matt and Mark simply can't be praised highly enough for what they've done. It's not just the fact that they've paid for so many families to receive our care when they need it most, it's the day they create for the community.

“They bring people together to simply enjoy being together as a family and watch absolute superstars roll back the years. The work that has gone into this event has been absolutely huge, and to see it all come together in the way it did was just so special.

“So we'd like to say thank you to the supporters who turned up in their thousands, the volunteers who make days like this possible, the staff who have worked so hard, West Bromwich Albion and Stourbridge for being so, so supportive of the event.

“And, maybe most importantly, Jane Webb for raising such an incredibly kind-hearted man. She also took care of the weather, which was more than we could ever have asked.”

For more information on the Mary Stevens Hospice visit: www.marystevenshospice.co.uk.

Images courtesy of Sarah McDowall/stourbridgenews.co.uk & stourbridgefc.com

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