Charity football match takes place in Derbyshire to raise funds for mum diagnosed with incurable brain tumour

Derbyshire United, a charity football team, will be taking to the pitch at South Normanton Athletic - with the match kicking off at 1.00pm on Sunday, August 18. James Kellington, who is also from South Normanton, is one of the organisers - and said the event was being held to support a mum who was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

James said: “Bryony has stage four cancer, having been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour that has attached itself to the nervous system in the brain.

“She got this five days before her 40th birthday and she has five kids - the youngest of which is around three years old as well. She has been given a maximum of two years to live and they’re exploring opportunities to go abroad and find further treatments - that’s what we’re hoping the money we’ll raise will go towards.”

Derbyshire United have played in a number of charity games since 2024 - helping to secure vital donations for a number of worthy causes.

James said: “We’ve raised money for Macmillan, British Heart Foundation and a baby loss charity. We also helped to raise money for a six-year-old girl from South Normanton with stage four cancer - we helped to send her to Disneyland.

“We first created a charity football event to raise money for Macmillan, and it went so well that we formed it into Derbyshire United. People now come forward to us with an idea - they may have lost someone in their family for example - and we’ll raise money for a charity that they suggest.”

James also expressed his gratitude for the support from local businesses and football clubs - along with those who attend each fundraising event.

He added: “We’ve played at most of the clubs in Derbyshire and most of them have been fantastic. We almost have a pitch-share agreement with South Normanton Athletic - it’s their home ground and we understand that, but they let us use their facilities for free and they’ve put an advertising board up for us. We do treat that as our home club really.

“We’re up to almost 3,000 followers on Facebook if not more, and everywhere we go and play, we’re making new friends along the way. The support has been incredible - we get loads of thank you messages and it means a lot to the people who are playing.

“We have a matchday sponsor, Pemberton’s Tiling, and we recently secured a match ball sponsor in Wilson’s Discount Flooring and Beds. They’re the biggest two and they put a lot into it. All the players are sponsored as well.”

Tickets are free for the charity match, and people can make donations on the day of the game. Programmes will be on sale and raffles will also be held for those wanting to support Briony.