Charity football match held in memory of former UPS driver

Saturday 29 April 2017

A charity football match is being played today in memory of Abilio Franca, a 55-year-old man who passed away earlier this year from cancer. The event is being held in aid of Jersey Hospice Care.

The match will be played at Springfield Stadium between a team made of Abilio's friends and former UPS colleagues and a team from Lloyds Bank where Patricia, Abilio's wife, works.

All funds raised throughout the day will go to Jersey Hospice Care who provided support and counselling to Abilio as he was going through his treatment, as all as to his wife and daughter.

Chris Hansen, who is part of Lloyds Bank team, explained: "We asked Patricia if there was anything that she would like us to do and she mentioned fundraising for Jersey Hospice Care. We wanted to do something that would mean a lot to Abilio and he loved football so we thought a match would be appropriate. His family, friends and even Jersey Hospice were more than happy with the idea and that is how we got the ball rolling!"

Kick-off will be given at 12:00 with a penalty shootout session held at half time. It will be open to everyone attending in a effort to make the day more family focused and get supporters involved.

Jersey Hospice volunteers will be present on and off pitch with buckets to collect donations. A raffle is also planned with the top prize being two tickets to Madeira. Chris Hansen explains: "Estrela Travel Holidays have kindly donated this prize and it is quite fitting as Abilio is well known in the Portuguese community. A lot of other people, who Abilio delivered to when he worked for UPS, have also given prizes for the raffle."

The organisers are expecting over 1,000 people to attend on Saturday and if all goes well there might be more football matches in the future. Chris Hansen says: "We might repeat it and make it an annual event. For now we are just looking to make it a fun day for everyone and to make it as inclusive as possible."