Sophie’s Allstars v Portsmouth Charity XI Monday 8th May 2023 - Kick-Off 2pm Privett Park - Gosport THE OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
Www.sophieslegacy.co.uk
WELCOME... Welcome everyone to this football match which is the second time we have held a charity match at Gosport Borough. Last year’s match blew us away with everyone’s support and a sell out crowd. We made £25,000 which allowed us to start supporting families in hospital with their children. Shortly after the match last year we were granted our charity number. What we have achieved in the last year has been nothing short of a miracle and a lot of hard work! We now cover seven hospitals (Portsmouth, Southampton, Chichester, Guildford, Basingstoke, Winchester and Salisbury). We cover so many of the children’s wards in these hospitals including Neonatal Intensive Care units and children’s A&E. We have been delivering snack and toiletries to all of these hospitals and wards since the beginning of last year. Just between Portsmouth and Southampton hospitals we cover 17 children’s wards and provide around £1200 of food and drink every single week. Last May we started delivering pizzas every Saturday night and is now known as Sophie’s Saturday Suppers. We have delivered every single week for a whole year! Each week the pizzas are sponsored by a different business or individual. In September last year we moved into our office in Segensworth. This space allows us to store the food, toiletries, toys etc. It has been great to have a permanent space. At the beginning of September our therapeutic art practitioner, Hayley, started one day a week at Crofton Anne Dale School in the art studio that was built in Sophie’s memory. Hayley works 1-1 with children and is really making an impact to the children she is working with. In February, she started working at QA Hospital in Portsmouth once a week. Bringing art to the children in hospital means so much as we know how much Sophie would’ve loved this. The work we have achieved on a national level has been just incredible. I have seen three Health Secretary/ministers in the last year! I am involved in the national taskforce in hospital play as well as working with the NHS on feeding parents and improving food for children. In March this year an 8-week trial started at 9 of the big children’s hospitals (GOSH, Alder Hey, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Southampton, Sheffield and Newcastle). All these hospitals have been feeding parents as part of the ‘Sophie’s Legacy trial’ and it has made a real difference to the families staying in hospital. I have spoken at conferences and campaigned for parents to be fed, it truly looks like this will happen this year. This is a huge achievement as we have discovered that parents have NEVER been fed nationally when saying with their child. Whilst the work nationally continues, we have supported thousands of families in the seven hospitals we cover. We provide help with transport to and from the hospital, vouchers for Costa or M&S, organise birthday parties in hospital, provide clothes, we have volunteers seven days a week at Portsmouth offering a trolley service to every parent. We provide parent packs with the essentials you need when admitted to hospital, pamper treats to parents who are in for a long stays, gifts on Mother’s Day etc, provide toys, arts and crafts to the children’s wards and so much more. Our aim is to support families admitted to hospital with their children and I can safely say by you attending the game today you will help us to continue to provide this essential service to families. Thank you so much for the support everyone has given us this past year, we wouldn’t be able to do any of this without people supporting us financially or by volunteering. We hope you enjoy the game today and we get to see another win for the Sophie’s Allstars. Charlotte Sophie’s Mum
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From the chairman... We are once again privileged to host and celebrate the life and legacy of Sophie in the company of her family friends and a huge number of guests from all walks of life who themselves have found the whole initiative so uplifting. What a powerful message and reflection of how someone so young and so prematurely denied to us all can impact heart and soul in her everlasting memory. God bless you Sophie. Last year the inaugural celebratory event and match centring around a star studded football match but with so much more going on was a fabulous day with 3500 attendees mainly families in glorious weather enjoying an uplifting experience so reflective of Sophies own spirit. We can only hope for a similar experience today weather wise but I can assure you no stone has been left unturned by the army behind the scenes to make todays event even more spectacular. Of course lest we forget the cause for which we attend although motivated by the character and beauty of a special little girl is to raise funds for a cause that by its very name strikes panic into the heart of any parent grand parent or sibling all too frequently and results in the death of far too many and leaves an empty place at the table far too often. Great strides are being made I’m sure in both the detection and treatment of cancer but I simply cannot be alone as a father and grandfather in feeling that above all others its the loss of children that strikes us all the most. We have to defeat this curse and I’m sure with champions as strident as Charlotte’s Angels on the case hope is always abundant and funds will freely flow into the coffers of the dedicated doctors clinicians and researchers moving ever closer to better treatment and eventual cure let’s make it happen. Give freely and gain huge satisfaction from playing your part….please. Gosport Fc is hugely grateful to the players officials of both sides taking to the field (playing maybe too strong a word for some) today especially those that have travelled far and wide to be in attendance. We’d also like to thank all those participating in the many other stalls and activities playing such an important part in making the day a success. Just remember its not just how much we give but how much we put into giving that counts. Have fun stay safe and travel well. Iain McInnes Chairman Gosport Borough Football Club
Sophie’s story... Sophie was just like any other child, she was active, happy, healthy and always had a smile on her face. Sophie was a popular child who loved being around her friends and adults. Her hobbies were dancing, baking, art, socialising, reading and animals. Sophie is the middle of three daughters of Gareth and Charlotte Fairall - Lucy is 5 years older than Sophie and Amelia is 51 weeks younger than Sophie! Sophie was so close to both of her sisters and loved spending time with them. Sophie started complaining of tummy pain and feeling sick but it was occasionally to start with and we brushed it off as eating too much, needing the toilet etc. From July 2020 onwards the pain and feeling sick started to become more regular but Sophie never made a big deal of it. Most of August the pain become more obvious and we made a number of telephone calls to our GP. We had one face to face appointment in the middle of August after Sophie had spent a number of days in bed unable to eat or move. The GP felt her tummy and checked her over but felt it was likely to be a bowel infection and it would get better on its own. A few days later Sophie started to feel better and was well enough to go on a planned holiday with her nanny and Grandad and two cousins for a week. On the second day of the holiday Sophie started bleeding but she was too embarrassed to say anything. When she came home I noticed when washing her clothes that she had been bleeding and asked her about this. She said she didn't know what was happening but said she was still bleeding. By this point she had been bleeding for 8 days and it was getting heavier. I knew at this point something wasn't right. I phoned the GP surgery straight away on Friday 4th September 2020 but they dismissed it as her first period even though I was insisting it wasn't. On the Saturday morning it was niggling me that something wasn't right and I didn't feel I could leave it. I called 111 and three hours later they called back saying it was likely to be her first period. I stated this wasn't her period and if it was then why is she still bleeding 9 days later with it getting heavier each day. They offered to see the out of hours GP who could prescribe some medication to stop Sophie bleeding - again I questioned why they would give a 9 year old medication to stop bleeding when they don't know the cause. They ended up saying if I was that concerned to take her up to A and E which is what I did. Looking at her walk into the hospital I thought to myself that on the surface she looks really well but I can only call it mother’s instincts knowing something wasn't right. The doctors felt her tummy and said 'how long has she had this lump for? Those words will haunt me as I replied 'what lump', Lots of tests, questions and then the doctor saying her tumour markers were slightly raised and we would be transferred to Southampton Hospital the next day. The next few days Sophie had scans, tests and a MRI which was horrific for her as she was in so much pain trying to remain still but the tumour was pressing into her. Sophie's surgeon wasn't sure from looking at the scans if it was a cancerous or benign tumour as it didn't look like either. What he saw was a 12cm tumour that needed to be removed. Sophie had the surgery on 10th September 2020 and a number of surgeons worked on trying to get the tumour out. It was such a difficult 6 plus hours and because of Covid I couldn't leave the hospital or have anyone in with me. When the surgeon found the tumour he discovered something different to what they thought - it was definitely cancerous but stuck to so many organs. They spent hours
with her family. A very brave and grown up response to something that is everyone's worst fear. Sophie set out writing her bucket list and she achieved some incredible experiences. She did most of these things through pain and discomfort, some days I didn't think we would achieve them but with Sophie's true grit and determination she did. She also wanted to change a number of things nationally and wrote these on her bucket list for me to achieve in her memory. Sophie stopped treatment in July 2021 and she sadly died aged 10 on 18th September 2021 surrounded by her family at home. The last two weeks of Sophie's life the tumour blocked the bowel resulting in it never recovering, it meant she was bed bound and in horrendous pain. Sophie's personality remained right to the end and she never lost her incredible spirit. Sophie wanted the following things changed and this will be her legacy in memory of a remarkable young girl who touched so many lives. 1. Play specialist 7 days a week in hospitals 2. Improvements to food for children in hospital 3. For parents to be fed when staying with their child 4. For GP's, nurses and health professionals to be trained in childhood cancer 5. To increase the funds (currently 3%) in childhood cancer research trying to remove it but they couldn't remove the whole tumour. They managed to get around 95% of it which was amazing. The surgeon took me to a side room to inform me that it was more than likely cancer and he thought Rhabdomyosarcoma which it ended up being. I was told this on my own which was so hard. They managed to get Gareth up to the hospital later to inform him but he was only able to stay for a short while before going back home. Sophie remained in hospital for a week recovering from the major surgery and her bowel descended on itself and caused a number of problems but after 7 days she came home. A week later Sophie started the 9 rounds of chemotherapy which was very aggressive and brutal. Sophie lost her hair which she was devastated about and also was very sick from the chemo. She was so brave, positive and she smile remained showing people that cancer wasn't going to change her outlook on life. After four rounds of chemo we went to UCLH hospital in London for 7 weeks of daily radiotherapy. Sophie received the most amount of radiotherapy possible for a child. The side effects of giving radiotherapy to the whole abdomen was brutal and it was some of the hardest times of the treatment. We had to remain in London for the whole 7 weeks and it was during the second lockdown which meant everything was shut and the support of friends and family was virtual. At the end of 9 rounds of chemotherapy and 7 weeks of radiotherapy all that was left was a small amount of tumour by her bladder which was dormant. Sophie started on maintenance chemotherapy which involved me giving her a daily chemo drug and going into hospital once a week for another chemo drug. After 8 weeks during a routine MRI doctors discovered a brand new tumour right next to the one that remained dormant. The new tumour was around 2.5cm in size and in the area that had the most amount of treatment. It was a huge blow and we knew our options at this point were so low. Sophie couldn't have the normal relapse chemotherapy because of the toxicity issues with her bowel that the frontline treatment had caused. We were told that anything we give to Sophie was about giving her time not a cure. We tried one different chemo but the tumour continued to grow so we made the heart-breaking decision with doctors to stop treatment. We were honest with Sophie throughout her treatment and involving her in the decisions. We felt this was her body and the one that had to endure the treatment. Sophie was so positive and believing throughout the frontline treatment that doctors would make her better. When she relapsed she didn't want any more treatment, she was fed up being in hospital and couldn't face the treatment. She knew what this meant but wanted to live the time she had left at home
Welcome to Portsmouth Yakubu Ayegbeni Former Nigerian international striker, who was part of Portsmouth Championship winning squad that was promoted to the Premier League in 2002/3. The Yak went on to have an established career playing for the likes of Middlesborough and Everton. Svetoslav Todorov Former Bulgarian International footballer who scored a memorable goal in 2003 against Burnley to secure Portsmouth’s promotion to the Premier League. Also played for West Ham and Charlton. Matt Taylor Was a key member of Portsmouth’s 2002/3 Championship winning squad. Played for Portsmouth until 2008 before moving to Bolton and then West Ham. He scored a number of spectacular goals during his time at Portsmouth. Brett Pittman Former Bournemouth, Bristol City and Ipswich Town striker who signed for Portsmouth in 2017, scoring 37 goals in 81 appearances. He has been playing for AFC Portchester this season and has scored an impressive 44 league goals for them, making him one of the highest goal scorers in Europe! Alan Knight He holds the record for the most appearances for a single club as a goalkeeper, having played 801 games between 1978 and 2000. In addition, he is also the second longest serving Portsmouth player of all time behind Jimmy Dickinson Danny Hollands Former Bournemouth and Charlton Athletic midfielder who played for Portsmouth between 2014- 2016. Currently this season has been playing for Gosport Borough Football club. Michael Doyle Former Sheffield and Coventry midfielder who was the captain of Portsmouth League 2 championship winning team. He has also been capped by the Republic of Ireland. David Norris Former Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town midfielder who played for Portsmouth in the 2011-12 season. Pompey fans will never forget his spectacular last-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw at St Marys against Southampton in April 2012. Lee Bradbury Former Striker who had two different spells with Portsmouth. After joining the club in 1995, he was sold to Manchester City for £3 million in July 1997. Lee then returned to Pompey a couple of years later for a £300,000 fee and went on to make over 150 appearances for the club.
club. He has recently been playing for Kings Lynn Town. Rowan Vine Striker who played for Portsmouth between 2000- 2005. He had a number of loan spells at a variety of clubs in England and Scotland in a 22-year career. He has played for Gosport Borough in 3 different spells. Touchline Tony Male Former stadium announcer at Fratton Park, Tony has been the Portsmouth Charity Squad team manager for the past 13 years. Tony does a lot of charitable work within the community and has participated in the Great South Run for over 25 years. We are extremely grateful for Tony’s help to arrange this special day. Wes Fogden Former Bournemouth midfielder who played for Portsmouth during the 2014/15 season, making 28 appearances and scoring 2 goals. He then went on to play for Yeovil Town and Havant and Waterlooville. Dave Waterman Guernsey born defender who played for Portsmouth between 1996-2002 making 80 appearances for the club. He then went on to play for Oxford United. Paul Robinson Former Millwall defender who made over 300 appearances in a 14-year career for the Lions. He played for Portsmouth between 2014-2015 and then went onto AFC Wimbledon. Ben Davis Former defender / midfielder who made 44 league appearances for Portsmouth in the 2015/16 season. He went on to play for Grimsby Town. Kyle Bennett Former Portsmouth winger who was another member of the League 2 championship winning team in 2016/17. He joined Bristol Rovers in 2018. Paul Jones Goalkeeper who played for Portsmouth between 2014/16 making 55 league appearances for the
Viking Prints is a family run business who specialise in providing custom made HTV (heat transfer vinyl) clothing and WT (white toner) transfers. We also offer traditional print services such as the production of flyers/ leaflets and business cards plus much more. We have been running for 2 years starting off in our front room and after a year moved to an office space. We’re pleased to announce, we have recently outgrown our office space and are embarking on the next step in our venture from our very own shop in Park Parade, Leigh Park. We are honoured to be supporting Sophie’s Legacy and being selected to complete the printing of the match day kit.
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Sophie’s Allstars v Portsmouth Charity XI Monday 8th May 2023 - Kick-Off 2pm Privett Park - Gosport The line-ups this afternoon PORTSMOUTH CHARITY XI YAKUBU Matt TAYLOR Svetoslav TODOROV Brett PITMAN Alan KNIGHT Danny HOLLANDS Michael DOYLE Lee BRADBURY Wes FOGDON Dave WATERMAN Paul ROBINSON David NORRIS Ben DAVIS Kyle BENNETT Paul JONES Rowan VINE Matthew HUSSEY Jake THOMPSON Dan BINKS Steve WESTON Darren WATTS David BIRMINGHAM Steve LEDGER Craig ANSTEY Danny THOMPSON Manager 'Touchline' Tony Male Sophie’s allstars Tim SINNELL Steve WHITE Gareth FAIRALL Dave PHILLIPSON Jamie PHILPOTT Dan BAKER Jack THOMAS Shaun SILLENCE Andy VAUGHAN Gary TIDDIMAN Mike EARLE Rory WILLIAMS Liam HANKS Dave GOULSON Neil PHILLIPS Head Coach Mike Jenkins Physio Kate Blake