A charity football match that will see former professionals take on celebrities is taking place next month to mark the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing.
Named Manchester Remembers, the event on April 3 is being organised by former police officer, Aaron Lee, who was one of the first on the scene during the attack in 2017.
He worked with the victims’ families in the aftermath of the tragedy - and has shown continued support in his fundraising efforts, helping to raise £44,000 for the charities that were set up in memory of the 22 victims.
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“I’m driven by my relationship with the families, to this day, I’ve got a really close bond with them,” Aaron said.
“I see how much they’re still hurt and are struggling with what happened, certain dates will be triggers for them, and I get it that over time, it fades into the background a little. But for these families, I speak to them pretty much every day, it’s very much still the centre of their world.”
Aaron, who is now a firefighter, alongside his friend Paul Corrigan, a local business owner, wanted to do something extra special to commemorate the anniversary and felt a football match was fitting.
“I’ve always played football, I’m a Manchester United fan, so we thought a Manchester-themed Soccer Aid; it grew from there,” the 36-year-old explained.
“We’re very much a footballing city. As soon as I put it out there, the uptake was massive.”
Some of the players signed up to take part include Jason Manford, Paddy McGuiness, Adam Thomas, Clayton Blackmore, Trevor Sinclair, Wes Brown, and Paul Merson.
The footballing legends team will be managed by Sam Allardyce, and the celebrities overseen by Joe Royle and Peter Reid. Despite Aaron being a United fan, Manchester City Stadium will be hosting the match.
“They deserved it,” Aaron said.
“We reached out to both clubs, City came back first, and rivalries aside, they’ve been amazing with the cause since day one. It naturally felt right to go with them.
“It’s been surreal working with some of the biggest names in football and you can see when speaking to them how much it means to them.”
The Arena explosion killed 22 Ariana Grande concertgoers, ten of whom were under the age of 20, and more than one thousand people were injured in the attack.
What happened that night shook not only Manchester but the world, and Aaron says the unity in the aftermath was nothing like he’d seen before.
“Terrorism was a high agenda at the time across the world but maybe we were complacent to think it wouldn’t possibly happen in Manchester and then that did happen, and the cowardly way it did happen was just horrific,” he said.
“Then to see the support, that event brought Manchester together, like you’ve never seen anything like it before.
“It sent out a really strong message, that we don’t always get everything right, but in the bad times, I don’t think there’s a better city for support and coming out and making a stance against something that’s wrong.”
All proceeds from Manchester Remembers will go to five charities set up after the attack - The Chloe and Liam Together Forever Trust, Liv’s Trust, The Megan Hurley Foundation, The Remembering Nell Foundation, and Eilidh's Trust - with a fundraising target of £100,000.
“The five charities do fantastic work in helping young people achieve their dreams in sport, music, dance. It’s phenomenal. So to be able to support them in any way that I can really drives me on,” Aaron added.
“It’s a big target but hopefully we can get there.”
Mark Rutherford, who lost his daughter Chloe on the night of the attack, said: “We are absolutely overwhelmed with the support towards the charities set up after the atrocity and the kindness all of those families impacted by the attack have received over the last five years.
“We would like to thank all the players from both ex-pros and celebrities for giving up their time to support this event and a huge thank you to Aaron Lee, Paul Corrigan and all the team at Manchester City for their hard work pulling this together.”
Manchester Remembers will be taking place on Sunday, April 3 at 3pm at the Manchester City Academy Stadium. Both standard and hospitality tickets are available to purchase here . Adult tickets are priced at £20 and concessionary tickets £10.
Hospitality tickets start from £100 and include a three-course meal as well as drinks before and after the game. Those in hospitality will also have the chance to take part in a raffle, where all proceeds will be donated to the five charities the match is supporting.
Central Outsourced and WeDo Finance have been named as Platinum Partners.
Marc Darcy has been named as the official kit sponsor of the event alongside Roland Dransfield who will act as media partner. The game is also being played in partnership with Manchester FA and Salford Red Devils.
Additional sponsorship packages are also available including four gold packages.
You can tickets here.
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