Brothers' bid to raise £20k for Sands with Kings Langley charity football match

On July 29, Kyle and Gary Connolly held a 15-a-side football game at Kings Langley Football Club on Hempstead Road in support of Sands.

The Sands (stillbirth and neonatal death) charity works to improve care for anyone affected by the death of a baby, including bereaved parents.

Gary and his partner had been expecting a daughter, but after 39 weeks they were told by the consultant the baby’s heartbeat could not be found. Harper died on April 21 this year. 

Kyle said within three weeks of the tragedy the pair were coming up with ideas about how to raise money for the charity. 

On Sunday nearly 500 people turned out for the sporting event. Each player in a team of 15 wore the number 15 on their jerseys and played for 150 minutes. The number 15 relates to the 15 babies Kyle said were stillborn in the UK each day.

In addition to the football, guests enjoyed pizza and gourmet burgers, while Kings Langley FC opened their bar. There was also a coffee van, raffle and an auction. 

Kyle said: “I’d like to thank all those who attended on the day. We are nearly there in raising the £20,000 target we set out to achieve and we look forward to doing it again next year.”

He said around £7,500 was raised on the day and a car company had pledged to donate £2,000. On the family’s JustGiving page the current figure stands at £9,980.

Kyle also said he would like to thank family friend Connor Toomey who helped make the family fun day possible by taking care of “all paperwork, programmes and administrative duties”. 

For more information go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/h-connolly1

Kyle presented personalised boots to brother Gary marked "Harper" and "21.04.18", one and the other