Community comes together to raise over £11,000 for a bereaved junior ice hockey player.

Medway Eagles A-team (in black) and the coaches of the Invicta Juniors (in white).

Medway Eagles Hockey club organised two charity matches to raise funds for a boy to continue playing on their junior team.

The event was held on 22 March at Planet Ice in Gillingham, Kent and raised a total of £11,310.  

The club’s ‘go fund me’ reads: “hockey is more than just a sport – it’s a family. Right now, one of our young players is going through an incredibly difficult time after the heartbreaking and sudden loss of his mother. As a club, we want to rally around him and ensure that he can continue playing the game he loves whilst feeling the support of his hockey family.”

The club trains at the rink every Saturday and was a 2024 nominee for the Medway Sport club of the year award.

The night started at 8:45pm with the Eagles A-team vs the Invicta junior coaches, followed by a raffle and then a second game at 10:15pm with the Eagles B-team vs the juniors’ dads.

Eagles B-team (in black) and Dad's Army/the dads of the juniors (in green).

Each of the players paid an extra £10 to play, which went towards the fundraising pot and the boy’s fellow teammates were collecting money via donation buckets.

Cameron Field, a player for the B-team said: “I’m just so happy that I got to be a part of this amazing event, we’ve raised a lot of money for him and it feels so great to have done something so meaningful with our sport. We want to thank over 300 people who made donations to this great cause, it really will mean so much to him and his family.”

Guildford’s Junior Ice Hockey Club was amongst those to donate, with a total of £900, as well as a £75 donation from Kings walking netball in Rochester.

In an Instagram post, the Eagles said: “tonight we got to share the ice on a rare experience with some local Invicta legends teaching us the ways of the game, all the while, raising money for an amazing cause…thank you to all those involved and who donated.”

According to the Childhood Bereavement Network, an estimated 26,900 parents die each year in the UK, meaning roughly 46,300 children under 17-years-old are bereaved of a parent each year.

The Eagles said it was vital to raise the funds to cover all costs of the boy’s hockey career and to make sure that financial strains never prevent him from pursuing the sport.

Alfie Santino, a fan of the club said: “what the club has done here is great. I’ve never seen so many people in the stands watching a B-team game and I can’t believe how well they’ve pulled it off. I lost a guardian when I was younger and so seeing the support everyone has for him is so overwhelming and its important to speak about more.”

Attendance was at its highest for both games and brought new faces to the ice rink.

Cameron Young, an audience member said: “I’ve never been to an ice hockey game before but I had to come and support my friend who’s playing and all I can say is wow. The game ended at 11:15 and no one’s even rushing home to sleep, we’re all just still here for the atmosphere…yeah, it’s amazing.”

By Elisa Kannur