Please excuse the invasion of your message board by an away fan but I just wanted to post a few pics about a charity football tournament to raise awareness of brain tumours that I held last month. I raised a total of £1800 far more than the £1000 target I had hoped for. I presented the cheque today at Grimsby Towns training ground. I myself was diagnosed with a tumour late January this year and spent 10 weeks in Hull Royal Infirmary in 2 separate spells. Maybe it had something to do with watching Grimsby Town for over 30 years. Since I have been home I have been raising funds for the charity Brain Tumour UK which helps research the causes of tumours as at the moment nothing is known about how or why they occur.

I do use a few "other" teams sites and I am posting this message on their boards too.

Thank you for reading and good luck for the season, apart from Saturday of course.

Great job,

and god speed with your recovery!

One of the Girl's who plays on my Soccer team here in the states had a lung remvoved because a tumour was found on it, she's only 17 it was found just in time. At the school we had a game to help pay for her costs and raised $800.

Plus it may surprise you to know that every day in the UK, almost 50 adults and children are diagnosed with a brain tumour though there is very little government funded research unlike other illnesses etc.

I was one of the "lucky" ones if you can say that, as my tumour was benign whereas many brain tumours are malignant and untreatable.

And since having my tumour removed its not cured me of supporting The Mariners. I'll be one of our rapidly dwindling hardcore of 3,000 there on Saturday.

Les

well done for all of the money raised nearly doubling your target is good going.

glad to hear you've made a speedy recovery.

Truly awesome mate.

Congratulations on your fundraising to raise awareness of this, and also on your recovery.

Thanks guys. One of the worst things was that I missed our trip to Wembley in the Johnstones Paint Trophy final. We didn't play well by all accounts and got beaten and I have seen Grimsby there twice in 98 and been to the new Wembley to see England but its a bit special to see your own team stepping out on the hallowed turf. I had everything sorted out too, ticket, travel, accomodation and a week before the final I was admitted to hospital. Couldn't even watch it on Sky as the hospital TV's never had Sky Sports so I had to listen to the commentary on the radio.

Can I personally congratulate you on your incredible and selfless fund raising.

A brain hemorrhage killed my Dad back in 1998. Whilst I know it's slightly different to a tumour, any kind of brain disease or illness is a terrifying experience. I saw my Dad go from a healthy 44 year old family man to brain dead within three days of the hemorrhage occurring. So well done on raising money for such a wonderful yet little publicised cause.

All the best.

Thanks Alan, its true, though brain illnesses are one of the biggest killers in the UK there is very little known about how or why they occur and very little funding for research. I just want to put something back towards the research into them and the more coverage I can get in the local press and internet the better.

If anyone is interested this is a link to a recent interview I did for my local radio station, BBC Radio Humberside. There an audio link on the page too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/content/articl...n_feature.shtml

Les

have you a just giving website or somthing similar?

Not yet no, this years tournament was a bit of a rush as it was staged only 2 months after I came out of hospital. Due to the success of the tournament though I'm going to make it an annual event and will have a lot more time to plan it so I will be looking to set a donation site up soon.

Les

well keep us posted.

Will do, thanks.

I'm hoping to arrange a bucket collection at a Grimsby home game soon. Hopefully it will be the Bradford game next month as I'm sure they will fill our away end.

good luck with that - and well done