Chris Maple raised awareness and funds at one of his local football clubs thanks to our new campaign, Football v MND.
The Calor Southern Premier Division match between AFC Totton and Weymouth FC was dedicated to spreading the word about MND to players, staff and fans.
Chris recently lost his father-in-law Mike Gulliver to motor neurone disease. He was joined at the game by wife Vanessa, mother-in-law Jane and his three children, Cameron, Finlay and Georgina.
Chris said: ‘MND is very new to us as a family, but seeing its impact and how quickly it takes hold has made us all want to do as much as can to support the Association.
'It was a proud feeling for my family and I, turning up wearing our MND t-shirts. The Chairman of AFC Totton welcomed us warmly and was genuinely happy to be supporting the campaign.'
As well as featuring our special poster in the match day programme, Chris also held a bucket collection at Testwood Park which raised almost £100. Our poster was placed around the ground and Chris arranged for a tannoy message to explain the campaign to everyone in attendance.
Football v MND is fronted by Mark Maddox, a former professional football who played 300 times for Altrincham FC. Mark is trying to attend another 300 games before he dies – not in person but through his special poster being featured the match day programme.
Chris emailed football@mndassociation.org requesting our poster, which he then used to approach his local club.
He said: 'My father-in-law was a former goalkeeper at AFC Totton and played well into his 40s.
He added: 'It was easy to speak with supporters and to engage them.
'As football fans they were interested when the story behind the campaign was explained and I was also able put a personal context to it.'
AFC Totton were able to support the campaign by running our poster in the programme, joining teams such as Salford City, Altrincham and 1874 Northwich who have already got involved. Chris already has his sights on approaching other clubs in his local area.
He said: 'The evening was a great success, raising awareness of MND. It's the first of several I have planned and I've got no doubt the others will be equally as successful.'
You don't have to like football to get involved in our campaign.
To find out more and for help when approaching your local team, visit www.mndassociation.org/football or email the team.
