Local charity side victorious at Bradford Sports Awards

CHARITY football team Craven For Change have achieved a lot since being formed some 18 months ago.

For example, the 11-a-side team won the Club or Team Amateur Performance in the Team Achievers category at the Bradford Sports Awards at the Life Centre in Bradford last Friday (May 17).

Craven For Change have already played at professional stadiums such as Scunthorpe United, while a game at Macclesfield FC is on the horizon, but Danny Dixon, a founder member of the charity team, has revealed his secret wish for the club - to play at Valley Parade.

“100 per cent that would be the dream as a Bradford City fan,” admitted Dixon. “We have played in Hull, and had teams from Blackpool and Cheshire come over.

“We have played all over the UK, but to get on the Valley Parade pitch - once it is a bit better! - would be the dream.”

Craven For Change, which is run by volunteers, aims to raise awareness and money for local charities through football, and is an inclusive organisation for lads of all ages, sizes and abilities.

Dixon explained: “I was on the original committee and some of us were playing casual seven-a-side with our friends, with some of us playing and some of us not, and we had a connection with a local charity in Bradford, and it gave us an opportunity to play 11-a-side football.

“It is a good way to release energy, release stress, take your mind off things. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you are from, you can unite on a football pitch.

“We have players with different ages and from different backgrounds, and when you are helping charities as well it is great. It is a big win.”

Dixon added: “Every game we are raising funds for a different charity. We don’t just stick to one. We like to touch as many people as we can, so when we are at home we will pick a charity that is close to someone’s family or raise money because of something that has happened in the community.

“We tailor it for each game as we go along. The result of the match is immaterial. It is nice to win, but the main thing is that we are raising money for charity and getting out and playing football.”

As for the next 12 months, Dixon said: “We will take things step by step, play as many teams as possible, make some new connections and raise as much money for different charities as possible.”

Highly commended in the same category were Brazilian ju-jitsu club Gracie Barra Bradford.