Nottingham-based Tom Maccabee Memorial Fund Partners with Hope for Children

The Tom Maccabee Memorial Fund is partnering with international children’s charity Hope for Children to help girls living in extreme poverty in Uganda by improving their access to quality education through a new project called Girls United Kampala.

The Tom Maccabee Memorial Fund will host a charity football match at 3pm on 23^rd December at Regatta Way, the home of West Bridgford Colts Football Club, and hopes to raise at least £5,000 towards the charity’s Head Held High appeal, which is being supported by the Government’s UK Aid Match scheme.

The Tom Maccabee Memorial Football Fund was set up set up in memory of the keen footballer Tom Maccabee. Tom, tragically died in a car accident on December 21st 2014 in Malaysia. He believed in the unique properties of football as a game to bring people together and so, as a way to mark his legacy, his family decided to set up the memorial fund with a focus on enriching lives through football.

The fund has been established in conjunction with West Bridgford Colts – the club Tom played at through his teenage years between 2002 and 2011 – one of the largest amateur clubs in the country with over 1,000 registered members

Hope for Children's Head Held High appeal is raising funds to improve access to a quality education for vulnerable children in Africa. Every pound personally donated by the public by 23 December 2017 will be matched by the UK Government with UK aid.

Funds raised by The Tom Maccabee Memorial Fund will help launch the charity’s Girls United project which will work with girls from Namuwongo, a slum community outside Kampala where children live with their families in inadequate makeshift shelters and whose lives are limited by poor health, lack of access to quality education and opportunity.

The project will provide 40 girls aged 11-17 years the chance to have fun and play football while at the same time access vital support to protect their health, wellbeing and future opportunities through counselling, life-skills training and support to help them go to and stay in school.

Activities will include the provision of football equipment, kit, pitch hire and a trained football coach for weekly training sessions and competitive matches, as well as social workers and counsellors to provide the girls with weekly support that will ultimately increase their retention in school.

Tim Maccabee, father of Tom: "Looking for a charity and worthy cause to support in memory of a loved son, brother and friend of so many is not easy. Tom loved football and the power it had to bring people together. He also had a real drive to help people less fortunate than himself. Finding a project together with Hope for Children to establish a girls football club in a slum district in Uganda fits his legacy perfectly. Tom would be proud - and we are on his behalf" -

Immaculate Kiiza, Hope for Children Uganda Country Director: “It’s amazing to have the support of the Tom Maccabee Memorial Fund and link up with West Bridgford Colts FC in the UK to get Girls United off the ground. The project will make a huge difference to the lives of many girls living in really difficult situations in Namuwongo. The girls are so excited about playing football, and as well as having fun the project will help boost their confidence and self-esteem.”

The extra income from UK aid match funding will help Hope for Children provide a range of activities in northern Ghana including providing school books and uniforms, running teacher training programmes to improve the quality of education available, and community workshops that teach girls about their right to education.

To donate to the Head Held High appeal, go to https://www.hope-for-children.org/head-held-high-donate and quote Tom Maccabee in the comments field.

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