5 Nov 2021 Community

Oliver and Sophie’s sporting triumph in memory of loving mum Suzanne Watson.

Charity football match raises remarkable £5,000 for The Kirkwood as Oliver and friends take their fundraising to the pitch in memory of Suzanne Watson.

Siblings, Oliver and Sophie Watson, from Heckmondwike, were left heartbroken earlier this year following the death of their mum. Suzanne Watson, 53.

Having overcome breast cancer in 2018, Sadly only two years later, Suzanne was told the news that cancer cells had been discovered in her Lymph nodes and was spreading. She was diagnosed terminal and spent her last days with us at The Kirkwood.

It was difficult news to digest for Oliver and Sophie, who were in their late teens and early twenties at the time. The news of their mum's condition was hard to comprehend. They were fearful of what the future may hold for their family.

“I didn’t want to go and see her like that, I have bad anxiety, my sister Sophie visited regularly and kept me up to date” said Oliver.

Suzanne was cared for  on our In-Patient Unit, allowing her family to be able to gather in privacy, under the umbrella of the specialist nurse’s care.

During his mum’s stay on our In-Patient Unit, and after a bit of reassurance and support from his sister, Oliver came to the decision that he didn’t want to wait until it was too late and went to visit his mum.

“I held her hand and told her I loved her.” said Oliver. “It was the best thing I could have ever done, like a weight lifted off my shoulders. If I hadn’t have gone, I wouldn’t have had that special moment with her”

Suzanne died later that day.

Oliver and his family were offered support and counselling from The Kirkwood Counselling team, but Oliver respectfully declined. He says that “he finds it hard to talk” and instead sought the comfort and support from his friends and family.

Keen to show his gratitude for the care and compassion offered to his mum, discussions began about ways they could support The Kirkwood.

There was talk about taking on the Three Peaks, but it didn’t feel quite right to Oliver and his group of friends. They continued to brainstorm ideas. Eventually, they decided to organise their own fundraiser – a charity football match.

The friends first challenge was securing a venue to host the match. They set up a Go Fund Me page and a Facebook event page, to keep their supporters up to date with the developments of their plan. They went on the location hunt and managed to secure Littletown FC in Liversedge, thanks to his little sister Sophie who had a contact at the club.

With the location set, the siblings logged on to their fundraising pages to announce the update and were shocked by what they discovered. Their original goal of raising £700 had far succeeded its total, growing to an astonishing £2,500!

With their fundraising reaching far beyond what they had envisioned, they decided it was time to call in help. They contacted The Kirkwood Fundraising team.

“Joanna was amazing, she was there for us 100%, organising buckets and tubs to help us collect on the day and supplies for the event.” said Oliver.

In the lead up to the match, with the goal posts moved and a new target to aim for thanks to the overwhelmingly kind and generous response from the public, the group were all set.

The club had been building up interest of the match, raising a further £200 towards the pot, with the fixture in place for 17th July, 2021. With crowds gathered at the match, the game kicked off. Fundraising continuing to take place on the side lines throughout the game, with the winners receiving the Suzanne Watson trophy.

The event was a huge success raising a grand total of £5,000 in memory of Oliver and Sophie’s beloved mum. Oliver now plans to make the remembrance match an annual event. Taking it one game at a time.