Glasshoughton Welfare and physio Sam Crawford raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Sam (centre) with players James Beaston (left) and Reece Chappell (right)

By James Grayson (Twitter: @jamesAgrayson)

Glasshoughton Welfare players will be testing their pain barriers as part of the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division club’s season-long fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

A number of Glasshoughton players will have their legs waxed after the home game with Athersley Recreation on December 15th.
Welfare will then be hosting a celebrity football match between stars of ITV1 soap opera Emmerdale and a team of veterans in either March or April.
Cystic Fibrosis Trust (CFT) fundraising collection buckets and leaflets will be also present at Leeds Road at all the home games.
The CFT logo is also on the club’s new home shirt.
The fundraising efforts are being co-ordinated by Glasshoughton’s first team physio Sam Crawford, whose school friend Claire Armitage, 25, passed away last year.
Claire suffered from the disease and Sam, 26, said: “My friend died last year and the 23rd October will be a year since she passed away.
“She was 25 so it is about raising awareness of the disease and to help find a cure and also about organ donation. This country has only 30% organ donators whereas 90% of the country would take an organ if they needed it.
“I think what hurt the most was that I was at a football game on the day she died so football took priority over my friend.

“It was out of the blue. She needed a double lung transplant and she never got it. She was on the organ donation waiting list and she never got it.

“It is hard knowing that if more people were organ donators, she might still be alive.”

Sam in action

To organise the celebrity football match, Sam is being helped by former Glasshoughton and current Farsley AFC player Anthony Lloyd, who recently ran the Great North Run in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
Anthony’s daughter suffers from the disease and Sam added: “The club have been brilliant and the chairman Phil (Riding) has backed me on everything and the players are willing to do what I ask them to so I can’t ask for more.
“I’m hoping to raise a couple of a thousand pounds. Cystic Fibrosis Trust gets no government funding so all their income is through fundraising.”

There are almost 10,000 people living with Cystic Fibrosis in the UK and Glasshoughton chairman Phil Riding said: “Glasshoughton chairman Phil Riding said: “We’re fully in support of Sam’s fundraising efforts.

“Sam is passionate about raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust and I hope our backing will help her raise a lot of money for the charity.

“The fact we have put the CFT logo on our brand new home shirts shows how committed we are to helping Sam.”