Merthyr Town visit Children's Ward at Prince Charles Hospital

Merthyr Town FC played Santa yesterday with a Christmas donation to the Children's Ward of Prince Charles Hospital.




To have seen the faces of the staff and young patients of Prince Charles Hospital's Children's Ward when Matthew Harris strolled through the corridors with a giant cuddly wolf on his shoulders was quite something. Indeed, it was smiles all around yesterday as representatives of Merthyr Town Football Club visited Jill Davies and Sue Parry on the Children's Ward to hand over a Christmas donation.



After raising a tremendous £415 from various fundraising events, including the Under 14's Football Tournament at the Engine House this past Sunday, as well as the hard work of Jayne Abraham and the staff of Wards 5 & 6, the children were able to reap the benefits with a plethora of gifts for all. At 10:30am yesterday morning, Steve Williams, Matthew Harris, Luke Jones and Marcus Griffiths, along with Mark Abraham and several other representatives arrived to the interest of several of the youngsters and the warm reception of the staff.



The Teen Room will now enjoy the benefit of an Xbox 360 with a collection of games, Nintendo DS games and a pile of DVDs, whilst the younger children will no doubt be happy to see a bunch of new puzzles and arts & crafts materials, as well as their new mascot: the as-of-yet unnamed wolf donated by Matthew Harris.



Mark Abraham, Community Liaison Officer and the man behind the Christmas donation was overwhelmed with the positive reception and offered his thoughts on the event: "It was an absolute pleasure to be able to arrange such a donation for such a deserving service. The first team players that attended really got a buzz from the positive comments and warm reception and one little girl who had recently had surgery had her Christmas made a little brighter when she had a personal bedside visit from Steve Williams". Steve was one of the players who took time off work yesterday, along with Chairman Meurig Price, photographer Peter Harman and MartyrsTV crew member Matthew Davies, in order to be a part of the very special presentation.



"The gratitude and appreciation goes both ways in this case, for as great as it was for the ward to receive these gifts, it was equally as great that we were afforded the chance to give something back. It humbled the boys immensely." said Mark, who has spent the last month and a half rallying the support of fundraisers to try and help out the hospital during the festive period.



Mark offered his parting thoughts on the donation and wanted to congratulate and commemorate the hard work of all involved, "A massive thanks to everyone who donated or took part in the fundraising, from those ladies doing the charity walk, to the Engine House and the under 14s tournament to my mother's ward 5 and 6, you've really made a difference to these children this Christmas and the gifts are things that will get continual use for a long time to come"

Martyrs in Foster Parents Appeal

Foster Parent's Appeal Day - Saturday 8th December 2013




On the same day that MTFC play host to Yate Town and the charity walk to raise money for PCH Children's Ward, we appeal for more foster parents.



Representatives from Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council will be on hand on Saturday 8th December at Penydarren Park as they hold an appeal day to encourage more members of the community to come forward and offer their services as foster parents.



The Foster & Adoption Team at MTCBC will be in attendance during the Yate Town game in early December, the same day as the Martyrs hold a charity walk with aims of raising money for Prince Charles Hospital's children's ward. With reports and statistics from the Fostering Network finding out that a child goes into care and needs a foster family every 22 minutes across the UK, it's vitally important that able members of the community get involved and give these young people a stable, safe environment, without the need to be moved around from place to place.



Mark Abraham, Community Liaison Officer for the club, gave his thoughts "It's a great cause to be involved in. From my own background in youth work, I've seen the positive effects and better quality of life for disadvantaged young people that are afforded to them through foster care. It can be hard and challenging but ultimately, it's an extremely rewarding path to go down and I hope that we can help build up more foster carers within the borough. It is absolutely key that these young people are given a safe, nurturing environment with a loving family that can provide the stability they need".



For more information on these opportunities please download the flyer, call 01685 724589 or email foster.adopt@merthyr.gov.uk

Junior Martyrs at the Panto

Merthyr Town FC undertook its annual trip to the Pantomime on Friday evening. The venue on this occasion was the brand new Theatr Soar complex at Pontmorlais. Every child invited received a selection box courtesy of the Football Club to enjoy during the performance.

The panto was produced as ever by MTFC Club President Lyn Mittell with his Owen Money Theatre Group and our thanks go to him for arranging the tickets on our behalf.

The performance was littered as always with references to our town and also our team at Penydarren Park.

A great night out for everyone as always.

Next date for the Junior Martyrs calendar is the Christmas Party at the Candac Suite on the afternoon of Sunday 23rd December.