It’s now over a week since The Big Charity Bash and we are now off cloud 9 and feel safe to write this post about the evening.

Where do we start? Such a brilliant evening in Tewkesbury where the people came out and supported live music and Goals Beyond Grass.

The night began with Martin O’Neill and his daughter Ciara entertaining the crowd and created a real buzz around The Watson Hall. Not only was Martin performing and being our master of ceremonies, he and his wife Carolyn were 2 of the driving forces behind the evening and was really something that could not have happened without them. All of us at GBG, from trustees to our beneficiaries, thank them for what they have done.

After Martin and Ciara’s performance, Cheltenham band The Hawthornes took the stage and put on a real show for a crowd of well over 300. Their upbeat mix of original songs and some well-placed covers were outstanding and seeing a local band come out and support a local charity like they did really was fantastic.

After the incredible raffle which was supported by so many businesses from around Gloucestershire and beyond, The No-Good Nancy’s began. What can we say about this group? They were a force to behold and so full of fun and joy and that sentiment really encapsulated the feeling in the room. They put on a hell of a show.

The whole night was a triumph from start to finish. We are still absolutely blown away by the total raised which was over £4900! There is a lot of people who we need to thank and are we are doing just that but we have to give some special shout outs.

Our sponsors on the night were and Packwood Printers and Roberts Express Delivery. Their generosity helped us get word out to all, pay for the venue and sell lots of tickets. Just like the O’Neill’s, without their help and support, The Big Charity Bash would not have been the event it was. Thank you to Stefan, Christine, Ollie, Simon and Emily.

Stefan from RED South-West went above and beyond as he blew us away. As it became apparent that total was going to be so high, RED South-West offered to pay the difference from the total to help us have enough money to buy a brand new Panther Powerchair for Goals Beyond Grass!

We have thanked a lot of people on this post but we have left out some people. To everyone who attended on the night, we thank you for helping us reach the eye watering total. It will help us reach new people through the power of sport who may feel marginalised or excluded from mainstream society. 

Once again our good friends at the Pied Piper Appeal have come up trumps for us. Their continued support for GBG is absolutely wonderful and is something we appreciate more than they will ever know.

The latest act of kindness from the Pied Piper Appeal is the purchasing of 2 chairs for the charity and specifically our younger players. Usually when kids come to experience Powerchair Football they have to use an adult chair and padding is applied to sit securely.

Thanks to this generosity 2 Panther Powerchairs’ (pantherpowerchair.com) designed specifically for our younger and smaller participants to sit comfortably and make the most of their times. Thanks to the Panthers’ design, the chairs can be adapted to adult sizes to accommodate player’s growth.

On the 14th January 2018 Nick Broady and Julie Kent of Pied Piper Appeal along with the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire Andrew Tabor and his wife came to visit us and see their new chairs in action. Peter and Charlie were on hand to show off their skills and how the Panther Powerchairs’ will make a world of difference.