6 Oct 2023 Community

Oliver Watson raises another £5,000 for The Kirkwood through a charity football match

Many families across Kirklees have relied upon The Kirkwood when they need it most, whether that is through the care we provide people in their own homes, through our services or looking after people on our In-Patient Unit. One family who we cared for was the Watson family.

Oliver Watson, 26 has raised over £10,000 for The Kirkwood by hosting two football events, one in 2021 and one earlier this year in the memory of his mum Suzanne. 

Suzanne died on our In-Patient Unit after we cared for her in 2021. Since then Oliver from Heckmondwike wanted to raise as much funds as possible for us as a charity. 

On remembering that time we cared for his mum Oliver commented: "My connection to The Kirkwood is special, it is where I lost my mum two years ago to cancer. 

"She went through The Kirkwood in the final stages of her life and the way they looked after her was brilliant. We have since taken The Kirkwood to all of our hearts due to the kindness and thoughtful way they cared for my mum. 

"After me, my sister Sophie and my dad Ian saw how amazing The Kirkwood was. We have wanted to give back to them, that is why we have been doing charity events for them since. 

"It was a very difficult time for me, my sister and my dad, as well as the rest of the family. Some of us find it hard to talk about that time. However as time goes on I am able to speak about it a lot more and my way of talking about it is by doing things like this on the pitch and raising the funds we have. 

"I found it hard to go and see my mum whilst she was being cared for in The Kirkwood. I suffer a bit from anxiety and I struggled with it all. One day I just walked out and it got too much. It was the last day that I saw my mum because I struggled to go to the hospice. My dad and Sophie were there every day. I came to a point where I had to go see her, like in my head I had to go see her. I found the courage to go do it. That was actually the final time that I saw her. I held her hand and told her I loved her. It was the best thing I could have ever done, like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. If I hadn't gone, I wouldn’t have had that special moment with her.”

"As I was walking out of the In-Patient Unit that night, one of The Kirkwood staff walked me out and made sure I was ok, which was perfect and something I will never forget." 

A few months later Oliver set up his first fundraising charity football match which he raised £5,000 from. He hosted the event at Littletown FC in Liversedge. The day was a huge success and the family decided it would be good to host another match in the future. Two years later, Oliver had managed to secure Liversedge FC's stadium. He wanted to beat the £5,000 he had raised in 2021, and he beat it by raising £5,113. 

Reflecting on the two events he said: "I missed 2022, but the year before I hosted an event at Littletown FC. I said to myself I wanted to beat the amount I raised last time and that was our goal, and I am delighted to say that we did it. 

"For this year's event I started to come and watch Liversedge play. I got to know the owners Sharon and Steve and I asked them with no hesitation whether I could hold this year's match here. They said yes and the rest was history, it was a brilliant day, we got a good few 100 people here, 

"I am proud of what we have achieved so far and that's what keeps me going, stuff like this. I look forward to it all year around to organising stuff like this." 

Finally Oliver wants to beat this year's total next year and is already thinking ahead. 

He said: "I am ambitious and I would love to beat this year's total next year. However for now I want to say thank you to the following people: Priestley's Sports Bar, Liversedge FC, Sharon Osborne, Steve Osborne, The Kirkwood, the players and management staff from both teams. Also Sophie Watson and my dad Ian and the rest of my family.  

"Most importantly I want to thank the volunteers and everyone that donated towards our charity event without you guys this wouldn’t have been possible."