On Saturday 25 June 2022, members of Birmingham County FA’s Football Development Team were in attendance at The Olly Wilkes Memorial Tournament at Thorns Collegiate Academy in Brierley Hill.

The annual tournament aims to raise money for Olly’s first Club Withymoor Colts, MDS UK and The Lily Mae Foundation. The event could not have taken place without the amazing volunteers from Withymoor Colts who delivered the Junior tournament and Simon Wilkes and his dedicated volunteer team who delivered the Adult tournament. The tournament managed to generate £13,245 in donations which will be shared between the Withymoor Colts, MDS UK and The Lily Mae Foundation.

Alongside raising money for the three fabulous charities mentioned there were members of the Charity Anthony Nolan in attendance. Anthony Nolan is the charity that makes lifesaving connections between patients in need and incredible strangers ready to donate their stem cells. On the day the Charity were aiming to recruit Stem Cell Donors from those aged 16-30. Alongside the hundreds in attendance who had already registered in previous years, the recruitment drive saw another 26 new donors join the register at the tournament which is a testament to Simon Wilkes and the collaboration with the Anthony Nolan Charity.

Birmingham County FA will be working closely with Simon Wilkes and Anthony Nolan in the coming months as we are striving to get 2,500 new individuals on the Stem Cell Donor Register.

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