Ken's Walk For The Foundation Is Underway

Ken Masters has set out on his charity challenge to raise money for the Adam Stansfield Foundation.

Ken left Rovers' training ground this morning at the start of his grueling West Country walk to raise money for charity.

At the end of the month Ken will be walking between Bristol Rovers, Yeovil Town and Exeter City in memory of Adam Stansfield.

The walk will coincide with Rovers visit to Yeovil on April 2nd and Exeter's trip to the Memorial Stadium on April 9th.

Ken will walk from south Bristol on his way to Huish Park. He will then go from Yeovil down to Exeter and hopes to make it to St James Park on April 4th.

After meeting with members of the Adam Stansfield Foundation and Exeter City, Ken will begin the final leg of the journey - back to the Memorial Stadium in time for kick off on April 9th.

The Adam Stanfield Football Foundation has been set-up to support and encourage participation in youth football across the South West region.

The Foundation has been formed in memory of Adam who died on August 10 last year at the age of just 31 from bowel cancer.

Ken, whose wife has recently recovered from a major bowel operation, has wanted to do something to raise money for the Foundation for some time.

When he realised that Rovers were playing two of Adam's former teams in consecutive weeks, he decided that a walk around the West Country would be the perfect challenge.

Ken, 66, who has completed a number of running events over the years, wanted to do something that would provide him with a challenge.

He has now well under way with his training, and is walking up to 18 miles a day.

He said: "I was touched by the tragic death of Adam, who was struck down at such a young age, and wanted to do something in his memory.

"We are playing Yeovil on Saturday at their place, and the following Saturday we are playing Exeter City at our place.

"Adam Stansfield played for both those clubs, he passed away aged only 31 last year, and he died of bowel disease, so I am walking to Yeovil, on to Exeter and then back to our place.

"It is about 180 miles in ten days, to raise money for his foundation. I really want to do this and I am committed to it.

"Please donate, I really don't care how small every little bit helps and will be gratefully received.

"Every penny will go to the Adam Stansfield Foundation which helps to support children through the medium of football."

Ken has been training hard for the event and expects to walk about 18 miles a day.

He said: "Before Christmas I did a lot of strengthening work in the gym and after Christmas I took to the road and have walked well over 400 miles in training, so I feel quite well prepared.

"The longest walk I have done is around 20 miles, and I expect to be doing 15-18 miles a day, so I am well prepared, but it is still going to sting a bit.

"The legs are going to be ok, and the feet will be fine as Phil Kite has looked after them, bandaged them all up ready and showed me how to take care of them.

"What is going to hurt is my neck, in training I have found that it is my shoulders and neck that hurt during the long walks."

Ken will be backed up by a good support team, and although Ken will be embarking on the challenge alone, he would be grateful for any company along the way.

He said: "I have got accommodation all the way round, and Berkeley Coaches of Paulton have provided a support bus for me, which they have had signed with the Rovers logo and that bus will support me over the next ten days.

"I will be stopping in at Yeovil and Exeter on the way, and I would love for people to join me for parts of the journey.

"The reason for the mini bus is that people can join me for a few miles and then ride along in the mini bus and do a few more if they want to.

"So the mini bus is there to provide me with food and drink and clothing, but it is also there to support anyone who wants to walk with me."

Andy Cole, Chairman of the Adam Stansfield Foundation said "We are all very moved by the number of people wanting to raise funds for Adams foundation; we would like to thank Ken for his support and wish him luck with this challenge."

A Virgin Money Giving page is currently being set up for those wishing to donate to the cause, but in the meantime, anyone who would like to offer donations or a bed for the night should contact Kirsty Pugh at the club on 0117 9542003 or email kirstypugh@bristolrovers.co.uk



Report and Pictures courtesy of Kirsty Pugh, Bristol Rovers Football Club

Local Rivalries Put Aside For Memorial Match

Just wanted to advertise this event and pass on our thanks to all involved. It's on Easter Sunday April 24th. Should be a great day with lots happening. Thanks so much for organising this, really means a lot to all of us.

Update on Virgin Money Giving

We have received an overwhelming level of support regarding raising funds
for Adams Foundation for which we all are extremely moved and grateful. We
are going through the necessary procedures for creating an online giving
page with Virgin Giving where fundraisers will be able to create their own
page, where their sponsors can donate directly and the Foundation can
claim gift aid. All the processes as a charity we are required to follow
do take time so please bear with us while these are followed.

In the meantime we do have our PayPal system for donating or of course you
can still send cheques. We also have a sponsorship form available if you
request one via the 'contact us' form on this site.

Thank you once again for your valued support.

Andy Cole
Chairman - Adam Stansfield Foundation

Sportsmans Dinner A Huge Success

The Foundation's first ever Sportsmans Dinner was a huge success. The following is a post taken from www.exeweb.com about the evening:
What a great night it was last night 150 people packed into Tiverton Town Football Club for a Sportsmans Dinner in aid of the Foundation. Jeff Stelling was the guest speaker and what a great speach he made, very natural and genuine. Mike Mullarcky was also there and even donated a match ball and programme for the auction. The evening raised nearly £8000....just shows people will dig deep for a great cause. A special mention to the Exeter City players who bid £1900 for the limited edition photo done by Cheggers....A round of appluase from all in the room last night as well as a standing ovation. For the city fans Taylor, harley, logan, sercombe, watson, duffy,cozic,tully were all there [aplogies if I missed anyone] Aswell as some ex players and many local clubs inc Elmore had tables there. Once again a fantastic Night,....well organised by the Foundation. A special mention must go to all of Adams family who were there helping to take our money off us. And all the auction items donated by various people.

It was a tremendous night enjoyed by all. A huge well done to Darren Pearce (Adam's brother in law) who had the original idea for this and organised it all. Also massive thanks to everyone involved and to those who donated items for the auction, and a special mention for Jeff Stelling who took time out of his busy life to talk on the evening. Thanks again guys, you keep blowing us away.

77 Hours 28 Minutes. Awesome!!!!!

Adam Wright and the team who set out to drive to every one of the 92 Premier and League grounds to raise money for the Foundation arrived back at Edgar Street on Saturday morning at 9.30 am, nearly two and a half hours ahead of schedule. In the final few hours of their epic journey they called at Birmingham, Coventry, Oxford, Swindon, Cheltenham and finally Hereford United from where they started on Wednesday morning at 4am. The picture shows Adam being interviewed on the pitch at Edgar Street during the half time interval of Hereford's game with Barnet.

Picture and report courtesy of Bulls News http://bullsnews.blogspot.com/ An excellent site for all things Hereford United

We would like to congratulate Adam,Dave,Steve,Chris and Katie on their achievement. This was a truly awesome achievement and we cannot thank Adam and the guys enough for undertaking it. To see the blog of their journey go to http://aroundthegroundsin80hours.blogspot.com/

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Elmore honour club legend Adam Stansfield by renaming stand

Below is the report from The Express and Echo on Elmore F.C. renaming their stand in memory of Adam:

THE family of Adam Stansfield has unveiled a stand renamed in his honour at a Devon football club. Tiverton club Elmore decided to dedicate the structure to Stanno's memory to show that the popular forward will never be forgotten there. A crowd gathered to see the unveiling, which took place before Elmore's match on Saturday against Hengrove Athletic at Horsdon Park. Club secretary Neville Crocker said: "We usually get around 35 people to watch a game but I would say there was more than 100 on Saturday." Stanno spent several years at Elmore before being spotted by Yeovil Town, aged 21. He subsequently carved out a successful professional career, ending up at Exeter City, before his untimely death, aged 31, from bowel cancer last August. In his time at the Grecians he was lauded by fans for his phenomenal workrate and enthusiasm. The renaming ceremony was attended by Adam's widow, Marie, the couple's two sons and his parents. The stand now features a 4ft tribute including a full-length picture of a youthful Adam in his Elmore kit. It was unveiled by the family following speeches by club chairman Jed Hewitt and Elmore player Steve Rowland, who played in the side with Adam. Speaking about the decision to rename the stand, Mr Hewitt said: "A lot of local players knew him and he obviously went on to achieve his goal. In doing so he set the standard for other people of what can be achieved if they work hard. "Adam will never be forgotten here. It is something we have thought about doing for some time but we have been trying to find the right picture. The one we have picked was up on the wall at his wake." The picture of Adam is on the side of the stand so anyone walking towards it will be able to see it. The new signage has been provided by Tiverton company Ken White Signs. Ben White, the general manager of the company, had also played with Adam when he was at Elmore. Last night money was raised for the Adam Stansfield Foundation, a charity set up in the striker's memory, at an event at Tiverton Town Football Club. Unfortunately, Elmore were beaten 2-0 on Saturday.

Source:http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/news/Stanno-forgotten/article-3324978-detail/article.html

Well on their way Around The Ground's in 80 Hours

Adam, Grecian The Lion and the guys are well into their challenge of travelling to all 92 football league grounds in 80 hours. Here is an update from Grecian The Lion posted on Exeweb this morning:

Morning all!

We're about 3 hours behind schedule due to early morning traffic in London, and have just left Leyton Orient en route to Daggers. We went to West Ham before we got to Orient and got a few photos pitch side!

The main highlight of the London clubs has to be arriving at Palace at 5.30am with Deano, as promised, there to greet us and present us with a signed shirt to auction. What a guy.

I'll post another update later on today. Cheers as always for your support!

Keep up to date with how the guys are doing on their blog

http://aroundthegroundsin80hours.blogspot.com/2011_03_01_archive.html

If you can get out and support them at a ground near you please do. Thanks again to the guys for doing this. It really is a very special effort.

Signed Picture To Be Auctioned

I think Cheggers, Official Foundation Photographer says it all here:

Please let me explain the above.
In the very near future a fund raising evening, for the Adam Stansfield Foundation is taking place. One of the auction items is the above signed framed photo.
In my time at Exeter City, I have taken thousands upon thousands of images of the team both home and away.
I can state that during this time, I have taken more photos of Adam than any other player.
Why is this? Not sure but one reason is that he covered the whole pitch when he played and hence, wherever I placed myself, he would be there. Anyway I digress.
This photo is one of my all time favourites of Adam and hence I decided to do something special to help raise some funds for a very good cause.
The photo is from the match against Southampton on 7th February 2010. .
The frame measures approx. 58cm x 48cm ( 23” x 19” in old money ) and the print itself is 39cm x 26cm (15” x 10”) . .

It has been signed by his Team Mates, Coaching Staff and some of his close colleagues that worked with him during his time at Exeter.
What makes this print so special though is that it is a limited edition. In fact it is the only one that will be available to the general public (a one off ).

What I wanted to do is to give all the Exeter City fans a chance to put in a bid. So if you would seriously like to send me your starting bid and the maximum you are willing to pay. Via a private message on Exeweb / Facebook or send me in an email at pics@cheggerspics.co.uk. I will put forward your bids at the auction on the evening.
Thanks for taking the time to read and hope you enjoy looking at the picture as much as I do.

Cheggers