Bicester Motion fire: Charity football match in honour of victims

BBC News

7 days ago

A charity football match in honour of three people killed in a fire at a business park is about "getting the community together", one of its organisers has told the BBC.Firefighters Jennie Logan, 30, and Martyn Sadler, 38, along with father-of-two Dave Chester, 57, were killed in the blaze that engulfed a hanger on the Bicester Motion site on 15 May.Ardley United, based near the town, will face off against a team of Oxford United legends to raise funds for the Firefighters Charity on 20 July.The club's chairman, Ian Feaver, said it "needed to do something" as the incident had "affected the whole of the Bicester community".
"When we think about Jennie, Martyn and David, pretty much everyone knows someone who knew one of those three people - so it really does affect everybody in quite a bad way," he said."Raising funds for the Firefighters Charity is important, but [it's also important] to get the community together to have an enjoyable evening whilst remembering those people."
Mr Feaver said Oxford United had been "absolutely fantastic" in "supporting us to do something to raise funds".Several U's legends, including three players who secured the club's return to the Football League at Wembley in 2010, will feature in the game.James Constable, who scored the second goal in that win over York City, said he was "massively looking forward" to the encounter."It's something really tough hearing that news that people have lost their lives trying to keep us all safe," he said."As soon as there was a mention of a game and something as simple as kicking a ball around with mates and raising money, it was something that I was keen do."The match - which will be refereed by current Football League ref and former firefighter Sam Allison - is a ticket-only event, with all money raised going to the Firefighters Charity.
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.