Double the money for Northamptonshire business' second five-a-side football tournament

A Northamptonshire business' second charity five-a-side football tournament raised more than double the amount of money than the original.

Twelve businesses from across the county took part in Silverstone Fleet Management's competition in aid of Cynthia Spencer Hospice at Daventry Football Club on Sunday (August 15).

Silverstone Fleet Management managing director Scott Norville said: “We are thrilled at the success of the second Silverstone Soccer event.

"Cynthia Spencer Hospice has been our charity of choice for the past five years now.

“There’s a lot of members of the Silverstone Fleet Management team who have had personal involvement with the hospice.

"We are very lucky to have such a wonderful charity local to us in Northamptonshire and we want to do our bit to support it."

The hugely successful inaugural contest, held just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, raised £732 for the hospice.

It was the brainchild of sales manager Ryan Bishop, who wanted to use his business contacts and love of football to raise money for the hospice - the company’s charity of the year for the past five years.

More than 150 people turned up this year to enjoy the football and support the fundraiser, which also boasted an inflatable dart board game and a much-coveted raffle with prizes including signed Northampton Town FC shirts.

The overall tournament winners were Euro Building and Maintenance Contractors Limited, YMD Boon Architects were runners-up and £2,096 was raised during the day.

Scott said: “This event was about raising money for a fantastic charity but also about getting people together after all the restrictions of the pandemic, and having some face-to-face interaction.

"The level of play was amazing, a lot of the teams had been training for months so the standard was really good.

“As well as football, there was some great networking going on and people left with plenty of leads too.”

Silverstone Fleet Management has already committed to running the tournament again next year.

Hospice corporate partnerships fundraiser Nina Gandy was on hand during the day to talk to the businesses taking part, which Silverstone Fleet Management hopes will lead to more fundraising opportunities with other companies.

“The tournament proved a great success once again. It was brilliant to see a range of teams who played in the tournament back in February last year as well as new teams too," she said.

"There was a really great atmosphere on the day and everyone seemed excited to be back at a proper event again.

“Everyone who played, attended and donated raffle prizes will be making a huge difference to our patients and their families.

"A huge thank you to Ryan, Scott and all the team for making this a success once again.”