Friends of tragic Burnley teenager kicking off football competition in his honour

The friends of a teenager, who died following a road accident in Burnley, are to play in a football match in his memory this weekend.
By The Newsroom
Published 27th Jun 2018, 12:21 BST
Updated 27th Jun 2018, 13:23 BST
A charity football tournament will be played this weekend to raise money towards funeral costs for the family of 18-year-old Jackson Pickering.A charity football tournament will be played this weekend to raise money towards funeral costs for the family of 18-year-old Jackson Pickering.
A charity football tournament will be played this weekend to raise money towards funeral costs for the family of 18-year-old Jackson Pickering.

And poignantly the pals of Jackson Pickering will play against a team made up of the friends of Declan Edwards who died in 2014 at the age of 16.

Jackson, who was 18, died after the accident in Springfield Road on Saturday, June 16th.

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Jackson and Declan were friends and both pupils at Unity College in Burnley.

The friends of Declan Edwards, who died in 2014 at the age of 16, are to play in a charity football tournament in honour of his pal, Jackson Pickering, who died earlier this month after a road accident.The friends of Declan Edwards, who died in 2014 at the age of 16, are to play in a charity football tournament in honour of his pal, Jackson Pickering, who died earlier this month after a road accident.
The friends of Declan Edwards, who died in 2014 at the age of 16, are to play in a charity football tournament in honour of his pal, Jackson Pickering, who died earlier this month after a road accident.

Jackson played in a charity match set up in Declan's name after his death.

And it was Declan's mum, Mandy Duffy, who came up with the idea for the match to help Jackson's family pay for his funeral.

Mandy said she wanted to help as soon as she heard the tragic news about Jackson as she received so much support when she lost Declan.

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She said: "The boys were good friends so the plan is to get everyone together to try and raise as much money as possible."

And the tournament is a fitting tribute for Jackson who lived for football and played for a number of local Saturday and Sunday league teams, even scoring a penalty at Turf Moor in a schools' competition.

The competition has been organised by Burnley man Ben Charlton who organised the match to help Declan's family and raised £1,072.

Ben said: "We have planned this as a community to show that the people of Burnley pull together when they are needed."

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The matches will be held in Queen's Park on Sunday (July 1st).

Games will be 30 minutes each way and there is a minimum of £10 donation per player.

The first games kicks off at 11am and will be Pickering FC vs Edwards FC. Game two which will be the main game of the day consisting of Jacksons 11 vs Dec Edwards 11 with a 12-15pm kick off.

Ben added: "Everyone is welcome to come along and show their support and we will have a donation bucket for spectators."

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Ben is planning to get special shirts for the players to wear but teams are asked to provide their own shorts, socks shinpads and boots.

Anyone who would like more information is asked to go to Ben's facebook page.

A fundraising page set up to help Jackson's family has already raised the amazing total of £1,535 in just a few days. To make a donation go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jacksonpickering.

Related topics:Burnley