Grass Roots raises over £10,000 for Willow Foundation

Des Mclaughlin, divisional director of Grass Roots Meetings & Events, was delighted to present a cheque for £10,814 to Bob Wilson, former Arsenal and Scotland goalkeeper and founder of the Willow foundation, at a recent Willow Football Legends Dinner at the Grange Hotel in London.

The Willow Foundation is the only charity in the UK to provide positive and life-enhancing Special Days for seriously ill 16 to 40 year olds. Through Special Days it aims to enable seriously ill young adults to focus on something positive and motivating, creating special memories with those closest to them and helping them to take advantage of what life has to offer. To date, Willow has provided more than 10,000 Special Days for young adults living with life-threatening conditions.

The charity was founded in 1999 by Bob Wilson and his wife, Megs as a lasting memorial to their daughter, Anna, who died of cancer aged 31. Over the past twelve months Grass Roots staff have engaged in a raft of fundraising activities, including bike rides, road races, fun runs, mountain climbing in Morocco, dinner events and auctions, along with coffee mornings and bake offs.

Des Mclaughlin commented: “The work of the Willow Foundation has struck a real chord with our employees and is a constant reminder of how lucky we are to lead happy, healthy lives. We’ve had some great fun over the past year doing lots of crazy and not so crazy stuff to raise money and it’s a real pleasure to know that this will help create special days for others less fortunate than ourselves.”