Bradford Wins! Charity 5-a-side football fundraiser is a winner with local businesses
A great day was had at the 11th One In A Million charity 5-A-Side Football Tournament, held at the 5 ALIVE indoor football complex in Bradford, on Thursday 23rd November 2023, kindly sponsored by Blacks Solicitors and Business Enterprise Fund.
This year's event saw 17 local businesses compete in a fantastic competitive spirit to support One In A Million’s work amongst children & young people living in disadvantaged communities across the district.
Some outstanding football was on display throughout the afternoon as a One In A Million team, selected by Chief Executive Wayne Jacobs (which included former Bradford City stars Jamie Lawrence, Filipe Morais, Danny Forrest and charity staff) competed against a stellar line-up of local businesses; Azets, Blacks Solicitors, Bradford Chamber of Commerce, The Broadway Bradford, Business Enterprise Fund, Christeyns UK Ltd, Ison Harrison Solicitors , ITC, Kay and Lane Insurance Brokers, LCF Law, Major Recruitment, NPS Engineering Group, Peace Studies University of Bradford, Schofield Sweeney, T L Dallas, United Gas & Power, and YBFA.
The Tournament began with an evenly contested first round, leading into the Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and Final.
Congratulations to our tournament winners, Kay and Lane Insurance Brokers who won via penalty shoot-out against the runners-up Schofield Sweeney. Whilst third place went to One In A Million in a well fought contest against United Gas & Power!
The highest goalscorer prize went jointly to; Josh Debenham from NPS Engineering Group and Zee Ntini from Schofield Sweeney, both scoring 8 goals each!
The real winners of the day of course, will be the children and young people from the Bradford MDC that One In A Million will be able to reach as a result of your generous support.
Thank you to all teams and players for taking time out of their working day to take part. A huge thanks to Blacks Solicitors and Business Enterprise Fund for sponsoring this year's event. Your support helped make the day a great success, raising vital funds for our work amongst children and young people living in disadvantaged communities of Bradford and Keighley.
We would also like to thank our wonderful event hosts 5 ALIVE Indoor Football Centre for supporting us throughout the tournament's history.
Thank you to everyone for helping us reach our GOAL!
Meet the Teams of 2023 (Click to expand)
Blacks Solicitors - Tournament Sponsors
Philip Crampton – Blacks Solicitors; “Blacks Solicitors is dedicated to supporting important causes like ‘One In A Million’ and we are proud to have sponsored the 5-A-Side Football Tournament 2023.
As a sponsor, it is rewarding to see the impact the charity makes on the lives of children within the Bradford community. It was great to be involved in an event which was such a success that saw high-quality football, making it more exciting! Well done to everyone involved!”
Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) - Tournament Sponsors
Shaun Connell – Business Enterprise Fund; “We are delighted to sponsor the OIAM Charity 5-A-Side Football Tournament once again this year. It is a fabulous competition that brings together businesses from across the city. As a business, we recognise that the real winners from this event are the children and young people who are impacted by the important work OIAM facilitate. As sponsors, we thank all the teams for the good spirit in which they competed and the OIAM admin team for their excellent organisation. We also encourage businesses from across the city to support the fundraising activities of this excellent local charity”.
Team OIAM
Azets (formerly known as Naylor Wintersgill)
Bradford Chamber of Commerce / ITC
University of Bradford (Peace Studies)
Read what other people said about the day (Click to expand)
Jake Richardson – YB Financial Advisory Ltd: “It was a pleasure to enter a team into the tournament, a fantastic charity in the Bradford area supporting disadvantaged children. Thanks for the opportunity to support a great cause, and for organising a brilliant event. Although we didn't make it past the quarter-finals, we had a great time, and I am already looking forward to competing again next year”.
Carlos Pinto – Major Recruitment: “It was great fun! We didn't win, but we did raise some money for a great charity whilst playing football - so maybe we did win?”.
Andrew Smith, NPS Engineers: “NPS Engineering Group were very pleased to support the day. Whilst we wanted to be competitive, the overriding message from colleagues was to support our chosen charity. We are all busy and time is a precious commodity, but giving up a little can mean a lot to support local charities like One In A Million and help fund activities in our City. Thank you to OIAM for hosting yet another excellent event”.
Sachin Brar - LCF Law: "Thank you for your time organising the event. It was a joy to be a part of it and I cannot wait for next year”.
Schofield Sweeney: “We are delighted to have made it to the ‘cup final’ of the Tournament! Great effort from our team and, despite a tough penalty shoot-out loss in the final, we had a blast and helped raise funds for a great cause! Thanks to Craig McHugh and all involved in organising this great event!”
Rebecca Farhall - Azets: “As a business we are very pleased to support One In A Million and their annual 5-a-side football tournament, which is a highlight in the calendar for our team”.
