The annual Alex Lindsay Cup football tournament raised an incredible £3,500 for mental health charity Adored at the weekend, with 12 teams competing in memory of the much-loved 18-year-old. The knock-out tournament took place at Alex's former school, Calderglen High, in East Kilbride.
Event Details and Charity Focus
The charity Adored was set up by Alex's family to raise vital awareness of mental ill-health in young men, following his tragic death in July 2018. Sunday's event saw a dozen teams turn out to honour the youngster, with the tournament won for the second consecutive year by The Other Team, who defeated Muirend in the final.
Alex's mother, Jill, commented on the weather: "The weather in terms of the football players was probably perfect, because it wasn't too hot and there was a bit of a wind." She added with a laugh: "However for those of us with a stall and a gazebo up, the wind was not exactly ideal, there was a couple of moments where a couple of the gazebos went off to Oz, but it was all fine, it stayed dry. The important thing was to try and bring people out, and it went well."
Community Support and After-Party
Alongside Adored, grassroots mental health initiative Men with Issues and No Limits Coaching were present. Jill said: "It was good for them to see that they were there, see that those agencies are out there. You just never know, one person noticing and thinking 'Oh wait a wee minute, that might be useful for me', that could be as simple as saving a life."
After the tournament, a fund-raising after-party was held at the Village Inn, courtesy of Paul Jardine, who provided the venue for free. Ross Martin, one of Alex's friends, performed live music. The raffle featured prizes from local businesses including Ruby's, Bond's, Pergola, Once Upon a Table, and Arigo, as well as vouchers from local barbers.
Looking Ahead
Jill noted the tournament had fewer teams this year, down to 12 from previous years. She explained: "I think the fact there was another football tournament going on at the same time and just other circumstances like the boys who have traditionally always played in the cup were generally people that Alex was friendly with and at school with, and these boys are now men of 28 years old, people's lives move on, a lot of Alex's friends have moved abroad." She plans to involve younger teams next year, possibly splitting the tournament into youth and mature sections.
She praised teacher Mr Bell for his pivotal role in organising the cup: "You get great teachers who go above and beyond, and he's one of those people that go above and beyond, and I can't thank him enough, his dedication to the tournament has been phenomenal."
Special thanks were given to event organiser Jack Smith, one of Alex's closest friends, who set up the first memorial tournament. Jill said: "Jack is the person who every year runs the tournament, he's the one that seeks out all the football teams, he works tirelessly trying to make sure that it's a really exciting event every year... without his enthusiasm for the tournament it would probably have dwindled away."
Future Charity Work
The Adored charity will continue its work in schools next term. Jill stated: "We are excited to be working alongside South Lanarkshire Council in their new outreach venture... I think what this is going to enable Adored to do is to help more people than if I was just accessing the schools myself. So I just feel that we'll be able to broaden the horizon in terms of how many pupils we'll be able to actually reach."
