MEMBERS of youth football team, Pinfold Pumas, will play with the Barnsley Hospice logo emblazoned on their chests.
Ben Rowe, manager of Pinfold Pumas under 13s team, based in Cudworth, has raised the money they would normally get from kit sponsorships through a body wax and a race night.
He was keen for the team to show its support for the charity in return for the care his mother received 13 years ago.
Ben, 29, a taxi driver, from Ollerton Road, Athersley North, manages the youngsters in his spare time. His mum, Bev Rowe, died of bowel cancer at the hospice when Ben was 16 and he has supported the charity ever since. Ben said: “Mum was cared for at the hospice for two weeks and I didn’t know a thing about what they did until then.
“What surprised me was how happy and positive it was there, despite there being so many poorly people.
“The staff really tried hard to lift everyone’s spirits up and they were really good with the whole family too, not just my mum.”
Some of the football team’s players also have personal connections to the hospice and all 15 of them will wear the shirts when the new season kicks off in September.
Ben generated £155 for the shirts from his sponsored body wax, which saw players and their parents tasked with pulling off the waxing strips. The race night he organised at the Dorothy Hyman Sports Centre, Cudworth, on July 27 raised £596.
Ben said: “The waxing felt like a big challenge. The strips weren’t pulled off properly so it really hurt and one of the hardest bits was getting all the left over bits of wax off in the shower afterwards.
“Everyone has chipped in really well with the fundraising for the shirts and I think it’s really important that people in Barnsley support each other.”
