Eastleigh football team raises £5k in memory of friend's sister

Eastleigh based, Empire FC, originally set a target of £2,500 when they set up an online fundraising page for their run.

The plan was for each player in the 23 man team to run a distance independently, due to Covid-19 restrictions, and then by using cycling and running app Strava, captain, Carl Steadman, could record what everyone has run to prove that they had covered over 400km as a team.

Having completed the run last Saturday though, they not only ran further than expected, racking up 422km between them, but they also more than doubled their fundraising target, reaching a total of £5,445.

The money is being donated to Southampton Hospitals Charity in memory of Gracie Keeping, their friends sister who died of cancer on January 3.

It will specifically go to the team on C6 ward at the Teenagers and Young Adults Unit at University Hospital Southampton,who supported Gracie and their family throughout her care.

Captain, Carl, claimed he didn't expect the run to go as smoothly as he did, and stressed how proud he was of all the players.

He said: "When we went with £2,500 target I thought to myself, it could be a little too much with Covid and people not working, but then it really picked up and gathered speed.

"It's touched a lot of people and it's raised a lot of money which is wonderful.

"I'm just proud of everyone coming together as a team and I hope we've done the family and Gracie proud."

The teammates, who have been friends since school, were also spurred on by the fact that Gracie's brother decided to take part and do his own run in memory of his sister.

Carl added: "It was fantastic given what him and his family has gone through and it just justified everything that we were doing as a group.

"It was motivational to say the least as he's had a rough time.

"The main challenge was mentally, but the charity and the fundraising and memory of Gracie got everyone through it which was fantastic."