Gloucestershire Friends back amputees through World Cup setback

Quakers are supporting amputee footballers in Sierra Leone

Quakers in Painswick and else-where in Gloucestershire are supporting amputee footballers in Sierra Leone.

Friends are helping fundraise for the Sierra Leone Single Leg Amputee Sports Association (SLASA), which works with young men who lost limbs in the civil war. The team qualified for the finals of the Amputee Football World Cup in Mexico in December, but were prevented from travelling due to an outbreak of Ebola.

The outbreak may have delayed the team’s world cup debut, but there are still needs to be met.

‘These young men need money just to live, to get some education and to develop some facilities so that they can continue playing – and perhaps get to the World Cup next time round,’ said Painswick Friend John Meadley.

John and his son Tom visited Sierra Leone in 2012 to donate funds for the building of a well at Rokel, a site developed for amputees but which lacked water. The funds were given to Quaker Peace Network West Africa (QPNWA), which has links to Painswick Meeting.

During their visit, the two Friends met a number of amputee footballers. They have kept in touch, with Tom writing the team’s World Cup theme tune.

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