The Mirehouse community rallied round a very special football game at St Benedict’s rugby union club on Sunday.
The Mirehouse Tubbies were raising funds for CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young) in memory of Tuqiri Blackwell.
Tuqiri, from the Mirehouse estate, died suddenly last year aged 18. A talented singer, she was a student at Lakes College and was hoping to go to university to study nursing.
Mike Mather is the head coach, as well as a player with the Tubbies, and is a close friend of the Blackwell family so he wanted to do something in Tuqiri’s memory which would boost funds for CRY.
The game was arranged against a team from Whitehaven’s Morrisons’ store and attracted a decent-sized crowd with other fundraising efforts going on as well.
Mirehouse Tubbies Football Club (Tubby FC) was founded in June 2021 following an original idea from Niah Vaughan.
It was to form a football team for a group of men who are either of a certain BMI and/or are suffering with mental health issues.
The idea was presented to the estate’s local councillor Carl Walmsley and the Tubby FC story began.
Mirehouse Tubbies won the game 7-5 after leading 4-1 at half-time – although it took an own goal to give them the lead.
The Tubbies other goals came from Luke Bullock (3), Steven Priestley (2) and Anthony Burton.
Morrison’s actually won the second-half 4-3 and they served up goals from Reece Anderson (2), Barry Mitchinson, Stuart Shaw and James Harper.
A sizeable amount has been raised but there are other events to be added later in the month, including a run and a race night.
The club had the backing of numerous sponsors for Sunday’s fund-raising game – Myrus, MS Flooring Whitehaven, Cumberland Electrical, The little house of graze, KB Designs, Xtreme Fitness, Elite MOT Centre Cumbria LTD, CTJ Recovery LTD, GM Plastering and Building Contractor, DS Housekeeping Services and St Benedict’s RUFC.
