Charity Football Match In Honor of Grenfell Fire

In commemoration of London’s Grenfell Tower Fire that took place last June 14, 2017, the unfortunate incident was honored at the London Football Awards. A 24-story block in North Kensington experienced a rapid-fire which led to the demolition of 151 homes within the Grenfell tower and the surrounding areas.

Respect for the deaths of many victims from this fire was exhibited through a charity football match called “Game4Grenfell” which took place last March 2, 2018, in Loftus Road Stadium. The charity football match raised more than £400,000 for the Grenfell Tower survivors, which garnered them an award for a community project of the year run by a London club in 2017 at the London Football Awards.

Hosted by the Queens Park Rangers

The Queens Park Rangers (QPR) led the event and hosted the celebrity showdown which took place at the Loftus Road Stadium, located just a mile away from where the incident took place. The event gave away around 2000 complimentary tickets to everyone involved and victimized by the tragic event. This included residents, relatives of the victims, volunteers, and member of the emergency service that rendered their help in the disastrous event. All proceeds and ticket money went to the Evening Standard’s Fund for those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire that took 71 lives last year.

QPR’s manager Les Ferdinand shared some of his thoughts on the turn out of the event mentioning his encounters with victims of the tragedy and said “After the game, I remember speaking to some of the survivors and they were saying ‘since the tragedy, this is the best day we’ve had.’

“Game4Grenfell was an undoubted success and there are so many people to thank for making it possible, but it’s not about plaudits, it’s about our local community, Andy Evans added, the Community Trust CEO of QPR.

Other Winners Recognized in the London Football Awards

  • Harry Kane from Tottenham – Premier League Player of the Year
  • Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham – EFL Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year
  • Daniel Bentley from Brentford – Goalkeeper of the Year
  • Jordan Nobbs from Arsenal Women – Women’s Player of the Year
  • Roy Hodgson from Crystal Palace – Manager of the Year
  • Ian Wright MBE from Arsenal – Outstanding Contribution

The event was successful and fulfilling for everyone present and involved. It was clearly not just a night meant to celebrate the league professionals and players, but also to celebrate the people of Grenfell and the victims of the tragedy.

The efforts of Queens Park Rangers are definitely appreciated, not just by the Grenfell community, but as well as the football community as well. The tragic fire took several lives that “Hopefully by QPR winning this award, it will bring Grenfell back into the spotlight because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”

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