Charity football match has crowds ‘buzzing’ and raises more than £400 for two national Diabetes charities

The charity football match is just one of the events planned to commemorate and celebrate 20 years of Buzz Electrical Ltd being in business in the Vale of Evesham.The match was also a fundraiser for their chosen anniversary charities Diabetes UK , the foremost diabetes charity in the UK that campaigns for improvements in the care and treatment of people with diabetes and JDRF , the world’s leading type 1 diabetes research charity. Both charities are close to the heart of Buzz’s Managing Director and local Badsey resident Steve Owens (pictured below) and this fun event raised over £400.

After a short-lived shower, the sun returned just in time for the 1pm kick-off and, spearheaded by captains Ross Quiney and Sam Kilmister for Buzz and Steve Bradley for Badsey, both teams began the fight for victory. Refereed by Paul Sparrow, the first half saw two disallowed goals, one from each team, before Buzz’s Mark Bellamy became the first to get a score on the board. The real fun began after half-time, where Owens (manager) tossed away Buzz’s chance of a second goal when he took an on target penalty in the 60th minute, and Badsey United went on to score three consecutive goals to secure the win – two by Martin Skembry and the last by his son James, scored in the 90th minute just before the final whistle.

With both teams still (quite literally) buzzing from the afternoon’s events, the presentation was given by Steve Owens and his wife Sue, the day’s organisers. Despite a dodgy mic (which probably could have benefitted from an electrician!), Steve expressed how pleased he was with how the day had turned out:

“It’s been a brilliant afternoon with fantastic team spirit on both sides and a wonderful atmosphere. Thank you to Badsey Club for providing a great venue, Paul Sparrow for giving up his time to referee, and we’re so grateful to everyone that has come along to support us today and donate to both the Diabetes charities, enabling us to raise awareness and valuable funds for such a valuable cause”. Then, runners up Buzz collected the trophy presented to them by Sue, who also gave victors Badsey United their winning trophy.

After the presentation and the raffle, Martin Skembry, goal-scorer for Badsey, said: “It’s been a fantastic day – and not just because I scored! We were lucky to have 20 committed old boys with us, and the football was brilliant from both teams.

“It was a competitive game despite being a charity match, and it was an even game until the last 10 minutes. We’re all old and we’re all proud, so of course, we all wanted to win – our back four had a combined age of 215!

“I’m hopeful that we can do it again next year and defend our title.”

Overall, the day could not have gone more smoothly and this, alongside having raised money for a good cause made it clear that, despite the 3-1 score, there were worthy winners all round.