Fozzy’s Testimonial

Saturday July 22 was a red letter day in the ever-busy me&dee calendar. We’re always rushing from pillar to post, from one event and meeting to the next.

But this Saturday was a day for us and our families to have a real treat, courtesy of the wonderful Derby County defender Craig Forsyth, definitely our favourite player ever – ! – who has kindly agreed to be me&dee’s patron.

So that meant that Craig’s testimonial game against Stoke City on July 22 will be benefiting me&dee from a proportion of ticket and programme sales (we don’t have the final figures yet) – and with 9,119 fans there on the day, it will be fabulous for me&dee.

We wanted some of our friends, families and supporters to enjoy the game and we’ve got some big football fans amongst them – looking at you Taylor Lewis from Ilkeston! So we brought along some of our children and their families who we knew would love the game and were all treated to a great day out at the football.

Maria got the opportunity to chat to Owen Bradley from Rams TV all about me&dee and the work we do which was a great chance to get our message in front of thousands of fans on Derby County’s networks.

Then our children trooped off pitch side where they had the amazing opportunity to step out on to the pitch and form a guard of honour as Derby and Stoke players came out, with Craig and his own children emerging last to great roars from the crowd. The atmosphere was amazing and we hope they all loved it.

The game itself was fab for Rams fans with three goals to Derby – all in the first half – and it was wonderful to see our children throwing themselves into the game. When we looked back and saw Taylor bouncing up and down with excitement it really told us how much it meant to our children.
After the action Craig came down and was such a gentleman with our families and children.

He took a lot of trouble to pose for photos, signed Taylor’s cast, and the ever-resourceful Maria got him to sign one of our Hope keepsakes – specially adorned with a Fozzy’s testimonial t-shirt for the occasion – which will make us a great raffle prize.

A great day out which will live long in the memory.

And it’s all thanks to our great friend Gemma Forster who got in touch with Craig in the first place … go Gemma, you’re a fabulous friend to me&dee.
And lastly, thanks to Craig Forsyth, Christopher Monk, Owen Bradley and everyone at Derby County Football Club who gave us such a wonderful day out where we know some great memories will have been made.

Which is what our charity is all about. We may be small in staff, but we’re powerful in impact.

We’re all about the memories.