A CHARITY trust set up in memory of a tragic young Huddersfield soccer player has got off to a flying start.
The Huw Thatcher Trust has already raised more than £5,300 to help brain injured people.
And from this weekend on, a whole series of fundraising events have been planned.
Hepworth United player Huw – a 15-year-old student at Holmfirth High School – collapsed and died after a game at Brighouse in March.
Doctors later discovered he had a brain aneurysm which led to his death.
His funeral at Holmfirth Parish Church was attended by hundreds of family and friends and brought a vow to set up the memorial to help others.
Nigel Bowers, who was Huw’s football club manager, said: “The Trust and a website have been set up to preserve Huw’s identity and to care for and help brain injured people.
“The activities and events aim to support others, ease healing somewhat and will have Huw at the forefront of being kind, thoughtful, fun and inspirational.
“Just three years before Huw was born, a boy called Daniel Yorath died kicking a football about in the garden with his dad, the former Town coach Terry Yorath. He was just 15.
“Daniel’s dad managed or played for each of Huw’s three favourite clubs – Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town and Spurs.
“Daniel Yorath House is a charity that provides a facility in Yorkshire for people with acquired brain injury and is linked to a larger national charity for brain injured people. Some people with the same condition as Huw survive with surgery, but sometimes with devastating effects on their lives in the form of disabilities.
“That’s why Huw’s family are supporting the Disabilities Trust charity – in particular the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust part of this charity, which includes Daniel Yorath House.”
Huw’s parents. Nick and Jenny, and sister Carys, have backed the Trust.
They said: “The last weeks have obviously brought some dark days and there will be many difficult times for us to face in the future.
“The loss of Huw is felt most acutely by the three of us, but we are aware that hundreds of others have shared this sense of loss and disbelief.
“Huw had a wide and varied life and the acts of support and compassion have been equally wide and varied.
“This is fitting as Huw would have wanted all the many droplets of goodness he touched people with to continue and flourish.
“Without our families and the community around us, the three of us wouldn’t have been able to start thinking about healing – setting up The Huw Thatcher Trust and starting to get back to some of the things we were doing before March 13.
“We very much appreciate the comfort and help that has been brought to us in so many ways over the last seven weeks from our families, old friends, new friends, work colleagues, Huw’s and Carys’ lovely teenage friends, sports clubs, the wider football community, the school and the professional and support services around us.
“The scale of the support and grief that we have all experienced since March 13 is a testament to the way Huw led his life, and the legacy that remains.
“The Huw Thatcher Trust is a positive way of ensuring that the legacy is an enduring and productive one – preserving Huw’s identity and helping brain injured people”
Other events planned to raise money for the Trust include:
Collections at this weekend’s Holmfirth folk Festival
A non-uniform day at Kirkburton Middle School
Plans for Huw wristbands
A 5-a-side soccer tournament
Sponsored bike rides
A concert at Holmfirth Picturedrome
