Mansfield Town FC’s One Call Stadium is to host a poignant charity football match  to raise money for local charity Lashes Foundation and bereavement support group Angels United.

Players from both charity sides will include parents and relatives who have experienced the tragic loss of a child.

All tickets for the match on Saturday, 17th May, kick-off 1pm, are £5 and money raised will be shared by Forest Town and Clipstone-based Lashes Foundation, which aims to help people in the community, and Angels United, which started in the north west. Tickets can be bought here.

As part of a family-fun day at the stadium, a children’s penalty shoot-out will take place at half-time with prizes up for grabs.

Former Stags striker Lee Wilson, who helped to set up Lashes Foundation after his daughter, Evie (pictured), died in 2021, aged 13, said: “Young, old, whatever age, we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone to Mansfield Town Football Club for this eagerly-anticipated charity football match.

“The foundation will continue to work for Evie to help people in our communities, just like Evie did.”

“Evie once came to me and said, ‘dad can I have an extra £2?’. I asked why, and Evie replied, ‘because there’s a girl that can’t afford sweets at the youth club’. That’s why Lashes has to help everyone.”

Angels United, a football club formed in 2020, supports families who have lost a baby or child at any age or stage of pregnancy.

“Playing Angels United will bring together people who have suffered shattering losses, but we must never forget the good that we can do,” Lee said. “Mansfield and Ashfield is our strength, our community, our future – and Lashes will always work hard to make things better.”

A co-founder of Angels United, Olly Monk, added: “We are not just a football team. We are a support group, a family, a lifeline – made up of people who know the pain of baby and child loss all too well.

“Since 2020, we’ve been breaking the silence around grief and offering something so many need – understanding, connection, and hope.

“We call ourselves the football club you wish you weren’t part of – but for those who are, it’s a place of healing.

“We come together on the pitch, not just to play, but to honour the babies and children we’ve lost. To talk, to cry, to remember – and to support each other one pass, one kick, one goal, one conversation at a time.”