Grassroots football club marks centenary year with donation to Leeds charity Zarach

Horsforth St Margaret' s FC has been able to donate £1,500 to Zarach after marking their landmark year with a series of fundraising events.

Zarach delivers beds and basics to families in poverty and was set up by Bex Wilson, a deputy headteacher in a Leeds primary school who is passionate about ensuring every child in the city has their basic needs - of sleep and food - met.

Horsforth St Margaret's is partnered with Zarach and another charity, Young Minds, and carries both logos on the playing kits, alongside commercial kit sponsors.

The football club, which has over 100 open age and junior teams, has already donated £1,250 to Young Minds, after Victor Orta, Leeds United’s Director of Football, visited the club for a Q&A evening in October.

Club Chairman David Bramhill said: “Whilst we are primarily a community sports club we take our social responsibility incredibly seriously and we are outward looking in terms of our commitment to supporting our charity partners.

“Our recent Centenary dinner dance, held at Yorkshire County Cricket Club’s stadium, raised funds to enable us to make a £1500 donation to Zarach.

“This means that at least ten children across Leeds will receive one of Zarach’s bed packages.

“The backbone of our club are young players and, as a club, we want to make sure that children have a proper bed with proper bedding in which to sleep.”

Also this year, the club’s open age and veterans teams played two charity matches against teams made up of ex-professional footballers and soap actors during the summer.

Club Media Officer, Gary McVeigh-Kaye said ‘To achieve the milestone of our club reaching its 100th anniversary, with over a 100 teams and 1000 players on our books, brings us tremendous pride.

“Being able to utilise the large community structure we possess to support amazing charities such as Zarach and Young Minds is the least we can do to put something back into the community where we live, and further afield.”

Zarach founder Bex said: “We believe every child has the right to access education regardless of their background.

“Having a good night's sleep has a huge impact on a child's ability to engage in school.

“The feedback from the schools we work with shows us that when a child arrives at school alert and with a full tummy, their achievement levels improve dramatically.

“ We know that education is the key to future success in life. At Zarach, we aim to remove barriers to education by providing a bed bundle and access to healthy food.”

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