29th June 2025

So we are just under a week away from The Charlie Allum Memorial Charity Match on Saturday 5th July, 3pm kick off at the place that dad was at home and he loved, Hithercroft Sports Park, Wallingford. We are playing on the main stadium pitch where dad bagged some cracking goals himself.

Like last year the match will be an 11 a side game with each team managed by the Allum brothers (Chris & Andy). Chris is keen to retain the trophy again after last years win and Andy will be keen to win too as he is trailing quite far behind on wins now!

It will be free entry to watch and players will include some older guys from Wallingford's yesteryear plus some budding young stars who may grace the pitch in the future. Teams will be randomly selected as usual this week and will be announced on Facebook.

We are asking all players to donate £10 for participating and all funds will once again go to AMMF who the Allum family have supported for over 15 years now. Amazingly it has just turned 14 years since we lost dad to a very rare bile duct cancer. Online donations can be accepted on this page and donation pots will also be available on the day for cash donations. Hopefully we can edge further towards the 30k target on this page.

Thank you again for all your support for this Memorial that is standing the test of time.

Hopefully see as many of you there as possible next week.

'See you at the far post' as Chaz used to say.

Thanks again, Chris (and all the Allum family).

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30th June 2022

The CharlieAllum Memorial Day Saturday 2nd July 2022

10am – Players arrive to register andget ready.

10.45am – Group and team photos

11am – Minute applause then first gameof tournament.

1pm - Tournament lunch break until 2.15pm

1.05pm – Over 35’s Flippy Fox memorialtrophy match (15 minutes each way)

1.40pm – Ladies match for Harry BonnerMemorial Trophy (15 minutes each way)

5.15pm – Tournament final on mainpitch.

6pm – Speeches & presentations.

6.30pm – Spot The Ball revealed.

7pm – Players arrive in bar area aftershowers.

7.30pm – Event finish and continue withdrinks throughout the evening!

Events/stallsgoing on throughout the day as follows -  

6 team Tournament

Over 35’s Flippy Fox memorial match

Ladies match for Harry Bonner memorialmatch

BBQ that will run throughout theafternoon.

Outside bar and refreshments

Spot the ball

Bouncy Castles

Ice Cream Van

Beat the keeper

28th June 2022

Right I’m getting a few questions about Saturday so here goes……

Venue: Wallingford Sports Park, OX10 9RB.Meet time: 10am for tournament players, 10.45 will be group and team photos and first games kick off at 11am.Tea’s, coffees and bacon rolls will be available to purchase on arrival. Entry fee: £10 for all tournament players. £5 fee for all vets and ladies game players. Vets and ladies game should kick off around 1.05pm.Tournament group games are 10 minutes each way. Final will be 15 minutes each way. Tournament final should be around 5.30pm6x changing rooms are available in the main sports park complex. We are playing on two grass pitches at front of Sports Park.The Sports Park will be providing in and outside bars. For families we have 2x bouncy castles, ice cream man, BBQ and beat the keeper competition. Any other questions then please let me know.

10th February 2022

I’m delighted to announce that The Charlie Allum Memorial Day will be held on Saturday 2nd July and we are returning to The Hithercroft in Wallingford. We are again raising money to support AMMF who carry out vital research into the cancer that we lost dad too and Cholsey United FC whose committee will be putting the tournament on again.

We plan to have the minimum 8 team, 11 a side men’s tournament in memory of Dad, plus the over 35’s vets match in memory of Flippy Fox and the ladies game or possible small tournament in memory of Harry Bonner.

Please can you let me know if you would like to play in any of the matches either by a private message or on here, all the teams will be picked randomly again

24th June 2019

Itinerary of the day : 

10am– Players arrive to register and get ready.

10.45am– Group and team photos

11am– First game of tournament, minute silence.

1pm- Tournament lunch break until 2.15pm

1.05pm– Over 35’s Flippy Fox memorial trophy match (15 minutes each way)

1.40pm– Ladies match for Harry Bonner Memorial Trophy (15 minutes each way)

5.15pm– Tournament final on main pitch.

6pm– Speeches & presentations.

6.30pm– Players arrive in bar area after showers.

7pm– Raffle Draw & Spot The Ball revealed.

7.30pm– Event finish and continue with drinks throughout the evening!

Events/stalls going on throughout the dayas follows -  

8team Tournament

Over35’s Flippy Fox memorial match

Ladiesmatch for Harry Bonner memorial match

Raffle& Tombola

BBQthat will run throughout the afternoon.

Refreshmentsinside for snacks, soft drinks etc

Spotthe ball

BouncyCastle

IceCream Van

I can't believe that we are now only 5 days away from The Charlie Allum Memorial Day 2019. This time next week and for a good few days after there will be several off us that still can't walk properly! I'm getting a few questions now about the event so just to confirm - Where : Crowmarsh Recreation Ground, off Bellamy Way, Crowmarsh Gifford, near Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 8EB.Players to arrive by : 10am for registration and photos before tournament start please.Tournament finish : Approx. 5.45pm but presentations and raffle after so should all be done by 7pm.What to bring : Players please bring your boots and shin pads and all kit will be provided (except the ladies game). We ask for a £10 donation to play in tournament and £5 to play in either the vets or ladies matches.Parking : Is limited at the recreation ground so I would suggest not driving, getting dropped off or parking at the nearby Wallingford Splashpark which is a 2 minute walk from the recreation ground.Lots going on throughout the day and it is due to be a scorcher (fingers crossed) so please bring all the family. Cash is king so please bring with you to have a go on the raffle, tombola, spot the ball, bouncy castle or sample food and drinks at the BBQ, refreshment table or the outside bar. You should now all know which teams you are in but please let me know if you have any further questions. Let's make it another great day in memory of my dad, Flippy Fox and Harry Bonner. See you Saturday.And for anyone that cannot make the day but would still like to give kindly, then any donations would be greatly received to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chris-allum

24th July 2012

I am delighted to confirm that all of the Marathon sponsorship money is now in and the final figure raised was £2657.00 of which £265.70 went to Radley Athletics club which was the agreed 10% donation for providing me with the place in the Marathon. This leaves a fantastic amount of £2391.30 that has been donated to AMMF through my JustGiving page. I wanted to say another massive thank you to everyone that has sponsorship me or donated to a very worthy cause (it made the pain of completing the Marathon all worth it!).

So onwards we go with the Fundraising and the next event is The Charlie Allum Memorial Cup that is being competed for this coming Saturday 28th July. Dad had a massive passion for Football and a great fondness for Wallingford Football Club. So what would be the best event to hold in his honour....a Charity Football match at the home of AFC Wallingford where he spent so many great years. There is lots planned for the afternoon/evening and it is not just a football match for people that used to either play with or be managed by Dad. An iteniary of the day is as follows - 

2pm - 2.30pm - Players arrived to get changed.

2.30pm                   - AFC Wallingford will kindly be putting on a BBQ

3pm                       - Kick off for Memorial game

5pm                       - Presentation of Memorial Cup

5.30pm                   - Players join the supporters in the bar after a shower!

6pm                       - Raffle draw

6.30pm                   - Dave Dewey is running a Spot the Ball competition

6.35pm                   - Charity auction of football Memorabilia

7pm                       - Drinks throughout the evening!

Proceeds from the day will mainly go to AMMF, however I am also looking at providing a donation to AFC Wallingford for hosting the event and this is what Dad would have wanted.

The match is being held at The Hithercroft in Wallingford and will consist of an evenly split Chris Allum XI vs Andy Allum XI (you can't beat a bit of brotherly rivalry to keep it competitve!) and we are expecting around 50 players on the day to play a part. We are also holding a charity auction after the match and our families chosen cancer charity AMMF, have supplied two fantastic items to auction, the first is a framed and signed Wayne Rooney England shirt from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the second is a England Football Legends photo frame signed by Sir Tom Finney. There will be a reserve on both items. 

My JustGiving page will remain open for the forseeable future and if you are unable to make the date, then it would be great if you could make a donation via this page. 

Many Thanks and hope to see as many of you as possible on the 28th! 

13th April 2012

Well here I am on Friday the 13th and only 9 days to go until the London Marathon, my Friday the 13th was more like last Tuesday the 10th when at around 7.30pm I thought my marathon dream was over! I felt a tightness in my left calf towards the end of the first half of a game for Wallingford but me being me and the team being 2-0 down at half time to our local rivals, I thought I'd give it a massage rub at half time and get back out there.....not a good idea! I jumped to head a ball towards goal and when I landed the sharpest pain ever went through my calf and that was my game done and possible marathon over. We went on to lose the game 4-0 and our young goalie also broke his leg in the game so an horrific night all round but I think myself lucky that I was not the one that broke my leg (best wishes of course to Ty for his road to recovery).

Three days on and after lots of ice treatment, calf compression and miracle cream that Jane recommended, I am now more positive that I will be able to run a week on Sunday. Continued rest plus hot and cold treatment until Wednesday next week when I will attempt to get out for a cycle to see how it is. In all honesty the last 3 weeks since my last blog update have been very tough and I have been looking forward to some rest and recouperation after the marathon.

A lovely week in North Devon was followed by running my first competitive half marathon at the Olympic Lake at Dorney near Windsor. Of course it had to be the hottest day of the year so far on Saturday 24th March but I'm pleased to say that Dave Dewey and I both completed the 13.1 mile course and somehow I smashed my best half marathon time by 10 mins and ran it in 1 hour 49 minutes which was really pleasing considering the sweltering conditions! Despite the heat I really enjoyed the event and competing against other runners. The mad man that I am, I then jumped in my car once back home and dashed off to Drayton to play 25 minutes for Wallingford in a relegation battle that we won 1-0. Then I played 90 mins the following morning for Cholsey too!   

I've found training for the marathon the last few weeks really tough as I am stubborn (I say committed!) to continue to play and train for both my football teams at a busy end of season time. For instance I ran my final long run a 20 miler on 29th March, this run zapped the life out of me and took 3 hours 34 minutes and I stupidly decided to do this late morning after football training the previous night!

My family and friends continue to be a massive support to me during my challenge and I can honestly say that without them I would not be where I am now. We met up at my bro's house on my mum's birthday (1st April), it was a lovely afternoon and topped off when I was presented with a bag of gifts that ranged from a pendant necklace with pic of me and dad to blister plasters to Brut aftershave and deodorant which was my dad's favourite scent! Thanks to my family for the kind gifts and your support.

We held a marathon fundraiser on Easter Sunday at my local pub with the support of my Sunday football team players. In total the day saw me return home with £250.00 in my pockets which was made up with £150.00 in sponsorship and £100.00 in games that were arranged by me and Dave Dewey on the day. Thanks to all the lads for your support it means a lot to me. I have now smashed through the magical halfway mark of £1000 in donations and with other money due on sponsorship forms and promised donations I am still confident of hitting my £2000 target and I won't stop fund raising until I get there.

So it's that time to chase people again for money.... AMMF is a fanstastic charity that is helping to fund research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer (known as CC), this terrible disease effects around 1500 a year and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known. For those of you that haven't had the chance to donate to my challenge yet then please dig deep for a very worthy cause, either a set donation amount or how's about £26.20 which would be a pound for every mile (26.2 miles) I hopefully complete during the marathon.

Dad I know that you will be with me and in my thoughts for the whole way round the course and I might just need you to push me over that finish line.....

20th March 2012

I sit here now in South Molton in North Devon, during a well earned week away courtesy of the in-laws who have kindly taken us away with them. I haven't been able to jog so far this week as I woke up this morning with back pain which is not great as it's only 4 days until my first competitve half marathon run!

Looking back to the 4th March and my first competitive run at the Goring 10k, which was a challenging day due to all extremes of weather (heavy rain, galeforce wind, hail, sleet and finally snow!) and with the downpours the running conditions were difficult with roads flooded and paths muddy. After running the route a few days before and covering it in 57 minutes, not for one moment did I expect to get near my 10k personal best of 54 minutes. However miracously I covered the course in 50 minutes and 28 seconds and I was of course surprised but delighted with my efforts.

With the London Marathon now less than 5 weeks away, my training is still progressing well and I covered 18 miles a couple of weeks ago without stopping and in a time of 2 hours, 48 minutes. This gave me further hope that the 26.2 marathon distance is actually achievable, though I do read that the remaining 6 miles of course is the toughest!

This coming Saturday, 24th March, I will be competing in a half marathon at the Olympic Dorney Lake at Windsor. Thanks again to Dave Dewey who continues to be my running partner and has been by my side for most of the miles covered either on foot or on his bike during the longer runs, Dewey will also be running the half marathon with me this Saturday.

I have now smashed through the £700 mark in donations and have the magical £1000 mark in my sights which I hope to hit prior to the marathon. So it's that time to chase people again for money.... AMMF is a fanstastic charity that is helping to fund research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer (known as CC), this terrible disease effects around 1500 a year and currently kills more than cervical cancer which of course is more widely known. For those of you that haven't had the chance to donate to my challenge yet then please dig deep for a very worthy cause. For those that have donated already then how's about donating a further £13.10 to me for this Saturday's half marathon (13.1 miles) run which will equate to a £1 for every mile I complete.....

Thanks again for all your genoristy and I'm off to get into the hot tub shortly to try and ease my back pain prior to tomorrow's run.....

4th February 2012

Firstly today is my wife's birthday, so happy birthday Jane and thank you so much for your continued support during my challenge. It is regular for Jane to be left at home putting our little one Jessica to bed as I pound the streets throughout the local area!

So it's been nearly 4 weeks since the creaton of my page and I thought it best to update you with my progress as a lot has seemed to happen in this time.

The training was going well and up to the 16/01/12 me and my running partner, Dave Dewey had covered 42.6 miles during those first couple of weeks of January. Unfortunatley the training had to then stop for a couple of weeks as I had to have a procedure carried out on my left knee which is suffering from tendonitis. I won't go into great detail but the procedure was called 'dry needling' and they aggravate the tendon in the hope of it starting to self heal. The procedure wasn't painful as I was well numbed, however I had to be a good patient and was not allowed to do anything for 7 days so had a week off my part time role as a football coach for kids. I was not allowed to return to jogging for two weeks after the procedure.

 

So last Tuesday evening (31/01/12), I was back in the running gear in the freezing cold (it's been as cold as -10 overnight here during the last week) and went for a gentle 4 mile jog. I'm pleased to say there was no reaction from the knee, so all good. A further 10k run was carried out last Thursday and again the knee felt good and I got round in a personal best time of 50 minutes which was really pleasing for the second run back. The run on Thursday also took us through the 100 mile barrier in respect distance covered in training which started on 04/12/11.

All looks positive and I hope to step up the distance of the runs once again, the furthest distance that I have covered so far was a half marathon training run of 13.1 miles which I covered in 2 hours 6 minutes which again was pleasing as this is the furthest I have ever run in my life and without stopping!   

 

Thank you so much to everyone that has been kind enough to donate on my Just Giving Page so far, I am currently at £250 which is 12% of the way to my target which I believe is still realistic.

The 21st January saw me turn 31 years of age (thanks to everyone for well wishes and the mainly running themed gifts!) and I feel fitter now than I have felt for at least 3 years which means I am confident that come the 22nd April I will be ready for my gruelling challenge.

I am in the process of entering a couple of pre-marathon competitve runs with my running buddy Dave Dewey. The first is the Goring 10k which is on the 4th March and the second I am hoping is a Half Marathon at the end of March but it looks like I may have left it too late to enter in one of these!

It is now nearly 8 months since we lost Dad and still the pain is there every day. We continue to pull together as a family and help each other through the dark times. It is things like my challenge that keep me going and focused on my goal which is ultimatley raising money and hopefully helping others to avoid the pain that we have all had to go thorough/are going through.

 

Please, please continue to dig dip and support me for what is a great cause. Cholangiocarcinoma cancer takes more lives each year than the much more well known Cervical cancer and the number of people passing away each year is increasing at an alarming rate. 

Full details of my story are below and I will update my blog again towards the end of February in preparation for my first ever competitve race!

 

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9th January 2012

Hi to all,

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On the 22nd April 2012, I have been lucky enough to gain a place in the London Marathon and I will be running/walking/crawling in honour of my dad, Charlie who passed away on the 12th June 2011.

Running the marathon has been a lifetime ambition for me and I'll never forget as a child when I used to awake early on a Sunday morning in spring to watch these thousands of people queuing at the start line to run the tour of London. The event always intrigued me and all the different types of runners who come from all walks of life in an attempt to complete this great event.

I have always been part of a close and happy family, however In November 2009 the foundations of our family were rocked to the core when our dad at 54 years of age became ill and was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a cancer of the bile duct. Of course my initial reaction was of massive shock but I did not doubt for one minute that my dad (who was the strongest man in the world in my eyes) could beat this illness. However, we quickly learnt that Cholangiocarcinoma was extremely rare and a difficult cancer to treat.

Dad's and our families chosen charity is AMMF who specialise in the research into cholangiocarcinoma cancer that Dad was diagnosed with and it is my family’s goal to raise as much money as possible for this small charity.

Dad had so much to live for and the same year he was diagnosed he had become a granddad three times over to Max, my Jessica and Samiah. Dad was so happy and on top of the world and this is one of the main reasons he fought this terrible disease so hard.  In January 2010 Dad went through major cancer surgery having the whipple procedure, the operation was successful and the tumour was removed. Dad subsequently underwent Chemotherapy until October 2010 with the hope of destroying any stray cells.

A year after diagnosis dad had an area show up on an MRI scan after his chemo which was believed to have been scar tissue and after having it monitored, shortly before Xmas 2010 we had the fantastic news that the tumour had not returned. We had a great family Christmas that year and are thankful that dad could spend this special time with us and his grandchildren.

Early New Year 2011 dad started to fall ill again and in March last year we received the devastating news that the cancer had returned and as there was no further treatments available to dad, the cancer was terminal and it was likely that he had 3-6 months to live. Words cannot describe how the high at the end of 2010 became the biggest low that our family had ever experienced in the space of just a few months.

On June 12th 2010 at 17:10 was the worst moment of my family’s lives. Dad passed away peacefully at home with Mum, me, my sister & brother.

When I look back to the dark days after dad's passing I still do not know how our family got through them, however we found the strength that was so typical of 'Chazzer' throughout his life. We gave dad a fantastic send off at his funeral and I am so proud of the family, especially mum on this day and during my Sister Nicky's wedding day which went ahead only 7 days after dad's passing (this was his dying wish).

When I think about how the heck I am going to run a marathon which is 26.2 miles at a time in my life where I am now in my thirties and have chronic tendonitis in my left knee, I draw on the strength of looking back to how dad coped with his illness. He never moaned when he had every right to say 'why me?' and he never locked himself away and continued to be what he always was and that is a true inspiration to me and the rest of our family.

Due to an ankle injury at the tail end of last year, I could only commence my Marathon training on 04/12/11, which gave me roughly 20 weeks of training. During December I managed to run a combined distance of just over 50 miles (not bad for that time of the year!) and my furthest training run to date was on 06/01/12 when I covered 10.2 miles. I also have a goal to lose around a stone in weight before the Marathon day as it still rings in my ears dad saying ’13 and a half stone was always his football weight in season’ (he would allow himself to add half a stone on out of season!).

Over the next couple of months I aim to gradually increase the distance that I can cover which will then fingers crossed see me over that finish line on 22/04/11.

As you can see I have set myself a challenging fundraising target of £2000, this would be a fantastic amount for a very worthy charity and I know that dad would be so proud of me if I could achieve this. I am not setting myself a cut off date of before the Marathon to raise the money as I am also planning on arranging at least one fundraising event this year which will be a football tournament at The Hithercroft, in Wallingford, hopefully in July.

I will attempt to keep you updated on my progress on this blog every couple of weeks as I plan to complete at least two competitive runs (likely to be the Goring 10k & Wokingham Half Marathon) prior to the big day in April.

The pain of losing dad will never go away and I think about him every day, by continuing to honour him and following his wishes by raising money for his chosen charity gives me a great deal of comfort in difficult times.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please, please dig deep and donate now.