Buxton football match raises more than £1,000 for MIND charity

Lottie Buckley, 23, organised the 90-minute game with the help of five other friends for the charity after seeing friends and family fight mental health battles.

All 28 players on the day contributed £10 each but the donation was raised with the help of local businesses which came through with ‘amazing’ raffle prizes.

The football match was followed by music from Joe Buckley, as well as Andy Hibbert, George Baxby and Charlie Wilcox from The Aups, who donated their entire fee to the charity.

PR consultant Lottie, of Buxton, said the day had been ‘brilliant’, with Buxton FC’s Silverlands packed-out to capacity.

She said: “Mental health problems are more prominent than people know - one out of four people suffer with them at some point in their lives.

“I have a friend who I watched suffer - especially towards the end of last year.

“He was a driving force particularly, but it’s something which has always been close to my heart.”

Lottie said the match had a ‘great turnout’ but she had to thank local businesses for their raffle prize contributions.

The match finished 4-4 but Flamingos FC beat the Blue Team on penalties.

Lottie is currently auctioning a signed Manchester United football and will add the winning bid to the final total.

She also plans to run the Manchester 10k in May - raising awareness of mental health and funds for MIND.

n To make a donation, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/lottie-buckley1.