Popular Garda soccer blitz helps ‘Little Blue Heroes’
THE annual Garda community soccer tournament run in Charleville attracted teams from the town and locality in the soccer blitz played at the Charleville community complex in the grounds of Charleville soccer club at Moatville last Saturday afternoon.
The blitz was organized by local community Garda Nick Phelan with assistance from members of the local soccer fraternity, Eddie O’Shaughnessy, Graham Touhy and Brian Fitzgibbon.
The event attracted teams from Ballyhea and Newtown as well as those representing various business houses, the local Gardai and public houses in the town. The blitz was sponsored by stainless steel company Flo Technology, based in the Ballysally Business Park on the town’s Railway Road.
The event is a fund raiser to aid charity and this year the proceeds is going to the Garda Little Blue Heroes Foundation. Tim Griffin of Flo Technology was on hand to present the winners of the soccer blitz with their trophy on the day.
Little Blue Heroes Foundation is a not-for-profit charity operated entirely by volunteers (no paid staff ) made up of Garda members/staff, retired Garda members, their families, friends and civic minded people from communities. It aims to help families in need from local communities in Ireland who have children undergoing long-term medical treatment for serious illness.
The name ‘Little Blue Heroes’ came about when they discovered that the vast amount of the children they support have a strong fascination with police uniform, equipment, vehicles, Garda units, etc.
This has even led some of the children to make a wish to become an Honorary Garda and become part of the Garda family. As heroes to us, with the battles they face, these children have become ‘Little Blue Heroes’.
Garda Phelan thanked the management of O’Connell’s Bar, Charleville; Supervalu and Centra, Flo Technology and Tim Griffin, his own colleagues at the Charleville Garda Station and members of Charleville Soccer Club for all their support in the running of the event, as well as the Vale Star and Corkman newspapers for the coverage of the event.