Chichester City Ladies launch fundraising drive for local NHS heroes

The ladies and girls at the club, now based at Selsey FC, have set up a Justgiving page for members, families and friends to donate through the Love My Hospital charity.

They are keen to hail the efforts of the NHS in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic on top of their normal workload and want to see funds raised stay local.

It's given the players something to think about at a time when they are kicking their heels wanting to get back out and play football again.

You can see their Justgiving page here and donate if you wishSam Ashton, who chairs the ladies' club, said teams and coaches wanted to do something positive for the community.

"We have a number of people involved in the club who are in the frontline of health and social work so we know how tough it is for them at the moment," said Sam.

"We have a lot of ladies and girls frustrated that they can't play football at the moment and this is one of the ways we can keep everyone involved and thinking positively and maybe making a difference.

"We kicked it off with a £100 donation from club funds and it has taken off really quickly, and we had passed the £300 mark really quickly."

Sam said the ladies' club was in good shape following the move last December from Oaklands Park to Selsey. The club have a ladies' first team and development squad, one under-15 team, two under-13 sides, an under-11 team and the Wildcats training group.

No-one knows when football will resume but all at the club, having had the end of this season written off, are hoping the 2020-21 campaign will start on time.

"All our coaches are staying in touch with the players and there are things being staged like Zoom meetings and online training sessions. We're planning a virtual committee meeting too.

"It will be fabulous when we can get back to meeting up for training and matches. We're settled at Selsey and looking forward to a return to normal."

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