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[Community] Charity football tournament in Luton enters ninth year

Tuesday 14 Jul 2009

An organisation in Luton are aiming to help bring communities together with their annual charity football tournament.

The work of the Mandip Mudhar Memorial Foundation will this year turn its focus on the promotion of Fairtrade products through the town after strengthening its links with local multi-faith organisations.

The Foundation’s annual football tournament is at the cornerstone of the Foundation, whose members have fought for eight years to support charitable causes in the name of local youngster Mandip Mudhar, who died from injuries sustained in a car accident.

This year, a link-up with the Luton Council of Faiths and Grassroots has sought to bring home the message that Fairtrade products need to be promoted in the town.

In addition, the Foundation, which has always supported initiatives to promote organ donation amongst black and ethnic minorities, will add its backing to The Organ Donor Campaign, a government-backed initiative which began at the start of the year.

Local charities
Mandip’s family and friends have each year preserved his memory with an annual football tournament that brings together people from the Home Counties and beyond to raise money for local charities, as well as the Royal Free Hospital in London, where Mandip was treated for his injuries.

It was here that Mandip’s parents took the difficult decision of allowing their son’s organs to be donated to those desperately in need of them.

The Foundation has in recent years supported other causes such as tougher sentencing on knife crimes following the death of PC Jon Henry in 2007. The officer’s family joined 500 people at the tournament of that year.

Mandip’s elder brother Bobby Mudhar, along with a multi-faith team of Baljinder Ahir, Kuldeep Singh, Khalid Latif and Majid Rashid have, like in previous years, been working to bring together this year’s tournament.

Tournament
This year, the tournament takes place on Saturday 1 August 2009 at Vauxhall Recreation Club, Gypsy Lane, Luton.

Last year’s tournament attracted 26 teams, from as far as south London, Birmingham and Leicester.

Beneficiaries this year will be local causes that include ‘Friends of Bright Eyes’, a charity that provides support activities for children with disabilities.

Deadline for entries is 27 July. Entrants are asked to contact Vauxhall Recreation Club’s Marc Carter on 01582 748 232.