AFC Oakley Under 14’s raised £1,100 for the local charity Bedfordshire OpenDoor

OpenDoor are a Bedford based charity who provide counselling for young people. As we have all seen and no doubt experienced, mental health and particularly that of young people, has been affected by the challenges we faced in these past few years.

Last season, the then, Under 13s age group partnered with Bedfordshire OpenDoor to raise awareness of the work they do and to provide the age group with a new away kit. This partnership involved a reverse sponsorship deal, whereby OpenDoor sponsored our kit and the age group raised funds for the charity and to procure the kit.

Starting with a modest target of £500 for OpenDoor, meant we would have to accumulate approximately £1500 to buy and print the kit.

Bal Mahey – one of the coaches, in the meantime had been convinced to do a skydive with his niece Lakiesha for her 18th birthday. Not one to miss a fundraising opportunity, he promptly set up a JustGiving fundraising page. Lakiesha, Bal, and the age group all helped promote the skydive raising a fantastic amount of £2000. This enabled us to purchase a new away kit for all 49 players in the age group.

AFC Oakley invited the charity to attend our end of season Roley Moore competition where Lisa from OpenDoor was presented with a cheque for £1,100

Bedfordshire Open Door has since been awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Both Bal and Lakiesha were invited to attend the Awards ceremony where Her Majesty’s representative, the Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis was the guest of honour. Both Bal and Lakiesha were presented with a badge of honour that was provided to Bedfordshire OpenDoor fundraisers.

A special thanks to James Dove, who came up with this ingenious idea, Lakiesha Raj and family who funded the cost of the skydive and all those that helped to raise funds.

You can contact Bedfordshire OpenDoor by:
Text: 07922 105200
Telephone: 01234 360388
Email: counselling@bedfordopendoor.org.uk
In Person: 120 Tavistock Street, Bedford, MK40 2SA

Twitter: @BedfordOpenDoor
https://www.facebook.com/bedfordopendoor
https://www.instagram.com/opendoor120