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Rival bingo operators raise over £1,400 in fundraising football match

Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo went head to head on August 30, in an exciting football match to raise funds for their respective charities – Sue Ryder Care and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Despite the friendly rivalry between the leading bingo operators, the two Plymouth-based Gala Bingo clubs and Mecca Bingo Devonport got together to organise a family fundraising day, raising over £1,400 for charity.

Supporters from the clubs and local communities joined together to cheer on the players and although the match was for charity, both teams were determined to win. The game was not short of goals and Gala Bingo left the pitch with a half time lead of two goals to nil. However Mecca Bingo gained momentum in the second half and came back to win the game 3-2.

Organiser and manager of Gala Bingo Derry Cross, David Gregory-Clements, said: “It was a great game and both teams showed tremendous team spirit throughout. We’d like to congratulate Mecca Bingo on the win and thank everyone involved for helping us raise £1,400 for charity. It was such a success that we have agreed to a rematch next year, so beware Mecca Bingo, next time you might not be so lucky.”

In addition to the football match, held at the Stonehouse Recreation Ground the clubs also organised a fete, with bouncy castle, a raffle and book stalls for all to enjoy.

All the money raised has been split equally between the two charities. Over £700 has been pledged to Gala Bingo’s group charity, Sue Ryder Care, which provides end of life and long-term care to people living with conditions including cancer, Huntingdon’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and patients recovering from strokes. This money will contribute towards Gala Coral Group’s pledge to raise a total of £1.5million for the charity by the end of 2010.

The other £700 has been donated to Marie Cure Cancer Care as part of its 2010 partnership with Mecca Bingo. Marie Curie Cancer Care is one of the UK’s largest charities. Employing more than 2,700 nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals, it expects to provide care to around 29,000 terminally ill patients in the community and in its hospices this year and is the largest provider of hospice beds outside the NHS. Mecca Bingo is aiming to raise enough money to fund 10,000 hours of home nursing care.

David continued: “It was a fantastic family day out and we would like to thank everyone for their support which helped raise vital funds for two great causes. We are looking forward to next year’s match!”

ENDS
For further information please contact:
Catherine Dobison on 020 3128 6525 or cat@slice.co.uk
Lesley Hall on 01483 718326 or lesley.hall@galacoral.com
Sarah Challinor on 0161 234 9776 or sarah.challinor@bisslancaster.com

Fundraising day:
Where: Stonehouse Recreation Ground, Plymouth, PL1 3SF
Time: 1pm
Who: Gala Bingo Charles Cross Plymouth, Gala Bingo Derry Cross Plymouth, Mecca Devonport,

Gala Bingo
Gala Bingo is the UK’s number one bingo operator, with 145 clubs. Gala Bingo hosts a jackpot game called High 5, a unique offering in the bingo industry whereby jackpots are shared between club members. The largest win to date was in November 2007, where nearly £875,000 was won – half of which was distributed among High 5 players and the other half went to one overall winner.

Sue Ryder Care
Sue Ryder Care is a leading healthcare charity providing specialist palliative, neurological and community based services. Sue Ryder provides four million hours a year of expert and compassionate care and support for people living with serious illnesses and conditions, as well as their families and loved ones. Sue Ryder enables people living with illnesses such as cancer, motor neurone disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Huntington Disease, to get the best from their lives. Sue Ryder believes that everyone who needs our expert care should be able to receive it and live their lives with dignity, independence and free from pain. www.suerydercare.org

Mecca Bingo
Owned by Rank Group Plc, Mecca Bingo is one of the largest Bingo operators in the UK leading the market since opening its first club in London in 1961. Mecca Bingo now owns 103 clubs throughout the UK and has an active membership base of 900,000. www.meccabingo.com

Marie Curie Cancer Care
Marie Curie Cancer Care is the charity of the year for 2010 for Mecca Bingo, meccabingo.com, G Casinos, Blue Square, Grosvenor Casinos, and the Rank Group Plc. Around 70 per cent of the charity’s income comes from the generous support of thousands of individuals, membership organisations and businesses, with the balance of our funds coming from the NHS. The charity is best known for its network of Marie Curie Nurses working in the community to provide end-of-life care, totally free for patients in their own homes. The charity has two centres for palliative care research, The Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit at University College London and The Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute in Liverpool. It also funds seven fundamental scientific research groups which investigate the causes and treatments of cancer. This research was previously carried out at the Marie Curie Research Institute in Oxted, Surrey. The programmes are now located in universities around the country, and will receive funding from the charity until 2012. Research shows around 65 per cent of people would like to die at home if they had a terminal illness, with a sizeable minority opting for hospice care. However, more than 50 per cent of cancer deaths still occur in hospital, the place people say they would least like to be. Since 2004 Marie Curie Cancer Care has been campaigning for more patients to be able to make the choice to be cared for and die at home. www.mariecurie.org.uk