A charity football match held in Ilkeston has recently raised over £5,000 for Cancer Research UK.
‘The Content Creators Cup’ raised money for Cancer Research UK with two teams consisting of creators from YouTube and TikTok.
Ashford hosted the event in 2021, and Ilkeston has been the host for the past two years.
This year’s event was the final one with both teams winning one each before this year.
Team TikTok eventually won the game 6-3 with the match raising over £5,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Co-founder of the event, Oliver Freeman explained why this event was the finale: “When me and my mates started this event we just wanted a way to raise money for charity and also make people happy after months of lockdown.
“I think we did that but this felt like the natural conclusion to the event.
“We now want to come up with some different ways to raise money for Cancer Research UK.”
The event was a more low-key event than most other charity football matches or content creation events.
Just under 300 people attended the match in person while over 3,000 people tuned into the livestream of the match.
The choice of location in Ilkeston was explained by Freeman: “We actually had an offer from Fulham to host the match.
“But we turned it down just because we did not think we stood a chance of filling the stands.
“On top of that the overall logistical costs were massively out of our budget.
“As well as that I think here [Ilkeston] is great because the 4G pitch here is the same kind as the ones at St George’s Park where England’s national teams train, it’s also in the middle of the country so travel-wise it’s great as well.”
Despite a relatively low in-person attendance, the event raised a lot of money beyond just the total on the day.
The organisers encouraged people who chose to watch the live-stream to donate.
As well as that fans had the opportunity to buy VIP tickets before the game.
The VIP package allowed for fans to get priority with meeting the players.
Oliver Fletcher-Warrington, better known online as ‘Reev,’ was one content creator who took part in the event.
Reev commented on the event and other similar events saying: “I always love doing these events they are great.
“I get to meet people and the best bit is that we are all doing it for a great cause.”
Across the three events, Freeman estimates that the event has raised over £10,000 for Cancer Research UK.
Freeman further elaborated by stating: “When the initial idea came to us to start the event, I was not known to any of these creators or anything like that, so I actively began networking and reaching out to various creators to get them on board.”
“The fact that I’m now here three years later having raised an unbelievable sum of money, £10,000 or more for an amazing charity along with some massive creators honestly baffles me when I really think about it.”
If you wish to donate to Cancer Research UK you can do so at their website linked here.
