BLUES TOGETHER

Monday 20 July 2009

Pirates Game

Tony and I went to watch the game on Sat and typical City did not let us down the stream fdrom Africa was 30 mins late and as soon as they got pictures - they scored

On a better note we handed out leaflets on the appeal and we were well recieved by the majority of fans there to watch and buy the new shirt - We had some very good feedback from quite a few and a new volunteer for a bucket - Thanks Nikki

Thursday 16 July 2009

BTW

Tony was on the radio tonight in SL - postponed last night due to a storm - no link was avilable - but will will try to get a recording posted

Can not believe none of "the guys"

Have not joined yet - anyway a little lull in the proceedings as I am off to England on the morrow - see my sick parents - but I will be at the ground on Sat to watch us beat those Pirates and will be handing out leaflets for the collection along with the main man Tony who set all this is motion in 2003 - so not much from me until I sober up on monday - goodnight

Wednesday 15 July 2009

Time for bed

This is going to be a long appeal but I intend to make it widely known every night and day until 12/9/09 so I need my sleep see you on the morrow

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A radio station in SL has got wind of this and will be interviewing Tony by phone and Armani will be in the studio on the morrow 9pm uk time approx - we are getting a link we hope to listen via tinternet - will post when I get it - the publicity machine is up and running with GMR - Key 103 - the city mag - programme - various sites - a blog - twitter - KOTK - etc etc etc

ohhh and on sat

look out for the tony and me watching the game at the stadium we will be the ones with the handouts for this - and ask as many questions as you want esp from Tony as he started it all back in 2003

we get one shot at this we need to make it count

repeat of first post to keep on front page

Site dedicated to only one purpose

SOS 12th September 2009 Bucket Collection For MCFC Sierra Leone

PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN - AND IF YOU CAN HELP OUT ON THE DAY CONTACT ME

In the autumn of 2003 a member of Reddish Branch of the CSA completed 30 years as a police officer in Manchester and retired. He then started working in Sierra Leone in West Africa, where his job was to train detectives out there to investigate child abuse.

Sierra Leone has for the past several years been either last, or second to last in the world wealth league tables published every year. Average life expectancy is around 38 years and living conditions for most people are appalling. On top of all these problems the country has gone through a particularly bloody civil war that lasted 11 years and only ended in 2000.

When he arrived in Freetown, the capital City, Tony noticed the usual scattering of people wearing Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United shirts. It soon became apparent that football is massive in the country and most people follow the English Premier League. At the end of his first week he was enjoying a beer at a beach bar when a young man approached him by the name of Armani Sheku KAMARA who was selling watches, sunglasses etc. He noticed that he was wearing a Manchester United lapel badge. As Tony is a dyed in the wool blue he joked with the young man that he could not buy any of his merchandise from a man wearing and Man United badge. Within a short time he agreed to throw the offending item into the Atlantic Ocean and negotiations commenced. It soon became apparent that not only did he have a good knowledge of Premier League football he also had a good knowledge of the ups and downs of Manchester City. He assured Tony that he was only wearing the United badge because a customer had given it to him and he promised him that if I could get him a City shirt he would be a City fan for the rest of his life. Little did he known what that conversation would lead to.

In early 2004 Tony returned to Sierra Leone having spent a few weeks back in Manchester, and of course took back with him a City shirt for Armani. Within a few days of receiving the shirt Armani told Tony that he was setting up a Man City Supporters Club in Freetown. When Tony next returned to UK he discussed the Sierra Leone situation, first with Howard Burr the Secretary of the Reddish Branch and then with Alex Channon the Chair of the C.S.A.. It was then that the Sierra Leone Branch of the Manchester City Centenary Supporters Association was born.

On Tony’s next visit he was able to take back with him several dozen assorted City shirts donated by City fans over here. They proved very popular and soon were being seen all around the Freetown streets. Soon Armani had formed a Manchester City Football team in Freetown as well as a Junior Man City team. The problem was that they were wearing a red and white striped kit that they had to rent on a match-by-match basis. Following discussion with Lorraine Firth at Manchester City the club kindly donated a full kit for the team out there. There was also a concerted effort by a lot of Branches to collect a s many shirts, boots as possible these were also sent.

Another recent development is that a Reddish Branch member donated a generator for the community where Armani lives allowing around 100 people to have electricity. The shipping of the generator was financed by C.S.A. funds with the blessing of its members.

Tony Griffiths last visited Sierra Leone in March 2007 and we were proud to hear of many men women and children wearing an array of City shirts around the capital and beyond. The football team formed such a short time ago is going from strength to strength and Armani is something of a local celebrity who is frequently interviewed on national radio in Sierra Leone and works extremely hard to promote Man City for no financial reward.

The Phuket Branch of the MCFC CSA then very kindly donated both a new home and away kit as many of the shirts donated were getting a bit passed it.

On 23rd. November 2008 Man City Youth team appeared in the Sierra Leone F.A. Youth Cup final and WON.

Not bad for a team that did not exist 4 years ago.

You now can't walk through Freetown without seeing a City shirt and hearing shouts of City Till I die

Unfortunately the first team had to pull out of the main league this season as it did not have enough cash - although the league have agreed to keep their place in division two for next season assuming they have funds in place

The next phase is to try and help make the team financially independent by raising £15-20,000 for a bus this would double up as both transport to away matches which is one of the most prohibitive costs to the team - Then during the rest of the week it would become a revenue maker by running it as a proper bus in the Capital this would give two people a job and also raise enough cash to keep the teams running. Also it should provide enough to replace the bus every 10 years.

This is not just another fund raiser - the work being done is changing lives and keeping young people off the streets and giving them a common bond - it is CHANGING LIVES and even SAVING some.

Hence the appeal and the collection which will take place around the ground at the Arsenal game on Sept 12th 2009 - if you see peeps with buckets and bright T Shirts collecting on the day please give what you can - if you won't be there and whish to send a donation for now you can contact me and I will sort out for you.

We also need up to 50 volunteers to man the buckets so to speak so if you want to help again contact me

A quiet day compared to yesterday

But we have had a very generous offer from on BIG BLUE
We have contacted more sites - ezines - The Alps guys - the City Mag will run an article for us
The story is up and running on loads of site now - hopefully we have started a runaway train that gathers pace as it goes - please feel free to copy the picture on this page(its the image we are using for the collection) and use as screensaver or wallpaper on mobiles and computers and spread the word far and wide - the more peeps that know the better - said it before but we get one shot at this lets make it count

Lots of E mail and messages

on sites and in my inbox this morning very encouraging - off to work - will update the days happenings on my return
off to bed knackered - did not mean to stay at it this long but well worth it - cheers guys for the help - this will be one mother of a collection I promise - I may be just a lttle bit under the infuence (just a tad) but again well worth it - now I really am going to hit the sack - Thanks again guys

Tuesday 14 July 2009

plus Rock radio - Chris Bailey - and KOTK (king of the kippax )

as far as I can make out

the peeps who now know about this less than 12 hours after it started are - GMR - Key 103 - MCFC prog - Andy Hinchcliffe - Ian Cheeseman - Bluemoon - Wookies - Citymancs - Mancityblues - The Club - every CSA club - every OSC club - City Mag - Muen - and a few more I cant recall - but we are on a roll - specifically H is on a roll - lets keep the ball rolling so to speak - and not let up until at least two weeks after the event

Great First Night

For those not involved at the very start this wont mean much - BUT a VERY BIG thankyou to all who helped tonight get the ball rolling - LETS MAKE THIS THE BIGGEST THING AT COMs so far - as far as collecting is concerned that is - I am getting excited by this this now - with so many good people behind it how can it fail - as Gery Cooke would say - Just Do It

Since I am very new to this

I will try to do my best and keep it informative, factual and fun - if you want anything added please contact me

This really is a great cause guys you have no idea of the change being made in Sierra Leone - it does not matter which team you support This is football fans helping football fans - its a tear jerker of the magnitude of 23 kleenex (more if I had not emptied the box)


We have one shot at this and we need to make it count, failure is not an option not for me not for the CSA - but for those in Sierra Leone counting on YOU and ME

Site dedicated to only one purpose

SOS CONTINUING APPEAL - PLEASE GIVE WHAT YOU CAN

In the autumn of 2003 a member of Reddish Branch of the MCFC Supporters Club completed 30 years as a police officer in Manchester and retired. He then started working in Sierra Leone in West Africa, where his job was to train detectives out there to investigate child abuse.

Sierra Leone has for the past several years been either last, or second to last in the world wealth league tables published every year. Average life expectancy is around 38 years and living conditions for most people are appalling. On top of all these problems the country has gone through a particularly bloody civil war that lasted 11 years and only ended in 2000.

When he arrived in Freetown, the capital City, Tony noticed the usual scattering of people wearing Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United shirts. It soon became apparent that football is massive in the country and most people follow the English Premier League. At the end of his first week he was enjoying a beer at a beach bar when a young man approached him by the name of Armani Sheku KAMARA who was selling watches, sunglasses etc. He noticed that he was wearing a Manchester United lapel badge. As Tony is a dyed in the wool blue he joked with the young man that he could not buy any of his merchandise from a man wearing and Man United badge. Within a short time he agreed to throw the offending item into the Atlantic Ocean and negotiations commenced. It soon became apparent that not only did he have a good knowledge of Premier League football he also had a good knowledge of the ups and downs of Manchester City. He assured Tony that he was only wearing the United badge because a customer had given it to him and he promised him that if I could get him a City shirt he would be a City fan for the rest of his life. Little did he known what that conversation would lead to.

In early 2004 Tony returned to Sierra Leone having spent a few weeks back in Manchester, and of course took back with him a City shirt for Armani. Within a few days of receiving the shirt Armani told Tony that he was setting up a Man City Supporters Club in Freetown. When Tony next returned to UK he discussed the Sierra Leone situation, first with Howard Burr the Secretary of the Reddish Branch and then with Alex Channon the Chaities Officer of the MCFC Supporters Club It was then that the Sierra Leone Branch of the Manchester City Supporters Club was born.

On Tony’s next visit he was able to take back with him several dozen assorted City shirts donated by City fans over here. They proved very popular and soon were being seen all around the Freetown streets. Soon Armani had formed a Manchester City Football team in Freetown as well as a Junior Man City team. The problem was that they were wearing a red and white striped kit that they had to rent on a match-by-match basis. Following discussion with Lorraine Firth at Manchester City the club kindly donated a full kit for the team out there. There was also a concerted effort by a lot of Branches to collect a s many shirts, boots as possible these were also sent.

Another recent development is that a Reddish Branch member donated a generator for the community where Armani lives allowing around 100 people to have electricity. The shipping of the generator was financed by C.S.A. funds with the blessing of its members.

Tony Griffiths last visited Sierra Leone in March 2007 and we were proud to hear of many men women and children wearing an array of City shirts around the capital and beyond. The football team formed such a short time ago is going from strength to strength and Armani is something of a local celebrity who is frequently interviewed on national radio in Sierra Leone and works extremely hard to promote Man City for no financial reward.

The Phuket Branch of the MCFC Supporters Club then very kindly donated both a new home and away kit as many of the shirts donated were getting a bit passed it.

On 23rd. November 2008 Man City Youth team appeared in the Sierra Leone F.A. Youth Cup final and WON.

Not bad for a team that did not exist 4 years ago.

You now can't walk through Freetown without seeing a City shirt and hearing shouts of City Till I die

Unfortunately the first team had to pull out of the main league this season as it did not have enough cash - although the league have agreed to keep their place in division two for next season assuming they have funds in place

The next phase is to try and help make the team financially independent by raising loads of dosh for a bus this would double up as both transport to away matches which is one of the most prohibitive costs to the team - Then during the rest of the week it would become a revenue maker by running it as a proper bus in the Capital this would give two people a job and also raise enough cash to keep the teams running. Also it should provide enough to replace the bus every 10 years.

This is not just another fund raiser - the work being done is changing lives and keeping young people off the streets and giving them a common bond - it is CHANGING LIVES and even SAVING some.


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